Thermoelectric materials—Challenges, approaches and classes

Thermoelectric (TE) materials have gained significant attention in recent days for their ability to convert waste heat energy into electrical energy. Numerous advances in new and a unique thermoelectric materials have been developed during the last decades due to their ease of device fabrication technique and technology. Thermoelectric research has become a hotspot in materials science over the recent years due to its promising global necessity in energy generation, energy conservation and subsequent utilization. Here this article seeks to highlight some of the recent advances in thermoelectric research such as criteria for ideal TE materials, various strategies that are in practice to improve TE performance and different methodologies adopted in the preparation of TE-based materials. This article also highlights some of the explored state-of-art materials in thermoelectric research to layout a grid for future purposes.