Process, Property and Performance of Chalcogenide-Based Thermoelectric Materials

The world is facing major challenges for finding alternate energy sources that can satisfy the increasing demand for energy consumption while preserving the environment. The field of thermoelectrics has long been recognized as consisting of materials that are potentially ‘ideal’ candidates for sources of power generation that operate by harvesting waste heat. However, the relatively low conversion efficiency of thermoelectric devices has suppressed their utility on a large scale. In this study, we summarize the global efforts that have been made, in the present scenario, to enhance the figure of merit of chalcogenide-based thermoelectric materials by choosing appropriate processes and their influence on properties and performance. The most recent research approaches, to chalcogenide-based thermoelectric materials in the last decade, from single crystal to polycrystalline form and from bulk to nano dimensions, have been considered in this study. The continued gap between fundamental theoretical results and actual experimental data of figure of merit and performance continues to challenge the commercial applications of thermoelectrics.