High-Performance Nano-Thermoelectric Materials: Progress and Their Applications

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, thermoelectric (TE) materials have drawn tremendous interest from researchers due to their potential to provide alternative energy resources. The efficiency of TE materials is mostly reliant on one dimensionless parameter—the figure of merit (ZT)—which depends on temperature, the Seebeck coefficient (S), electrical conductivity (σ), and thermal conductivity (κ). One approach to enhance the value of ZT is to reduce thermal conductivity, which can be accomplished by reducing the dimensions of the materials, for example, nanoparticles, thin films, and nanowires. In addition, we seek to understand the pivotal role played by the interactions between charge carriers and phonons as they play a decisive role in electric and thermal transport in TE materials.

For this Special Issue, special attention will be paid to experimental approaches to achieve reliable estimates of TE parameters. With the aim of understanding the importance of thermoelectricity from an applied physics perspective, we set out to highlight works that are based on the synthesis and characterization of TE devices. In addition, the secondary focus of this Special Issue is on the modeling and theoretical simulation of their astonishing behaviors caused at the nanoscale regime.

This Special Issue aims to focus on the recent progress made with low-dimensional TE materials and on the use of methods for the exploration of TE properties at the nanoscale.

Prof. Dr. Chia-Jyi Liu
Guest Editor

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