Research Progress on Thermoelectric Materials

A special issue of Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 December 2025

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, China
Interests: thermoelectric materials; new quantum materials

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Guest Editor
Physics Department, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, USA
Interests: condensed matter physics; materials science; neutron and X-ray scattering; functional materials; bulk materials; thin films; superconductivity; magnetism; multiferroics; thermoelectrics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Thermoelectric materials and devices enable direct conversion between thermal and electrical energy, offering unparalleled advantages in waste heat recovery, energy conservation, and small- to medium-scale refrigeration. The design of thermoelectric materials and devices is a critical focus in thermoelectric research, as improving their design can significantly enhance service performance and operational stability. To this end, researchers are actively exploring novel high-performance material systems, developing innovative strategies (band engineering, defect chemistry, carrier optimization, etc.) to improve thermoelectric properties, and advancing cutting-edge fabrication techniques (e.g., spark plasma sintering, MBE, sol–gel) to engineer high-performance thermoelectric materials and device integration with excellent operational performance (e.g., module design, interfacial engineering). These breakthroughs hold great promise for driving technological advancements in microelectronics, information technology, healthcare, clean energy, and other related industries.

This Special Issue, titled “Research Progress on Thermoelectric Materials”, highlights recent advancements in thermoelectric materials, focusing on material design, synthesis, characterization, and performance optimization for energy conversion applications. The material systems include traditional thermoelectric materials (Bi2Te3, PbTe, SiGe, Skutterudites), emergent materials (oxide thermoelectrics, organic/hybrid materials, chalcogenides (e.g., SnSe), and half-Heusler alloys), and low-dimensional and nanostructured materials (quantum dots, superlattices, nanocomposites). By bringing together diverse perspectives (reviews, original research, and perspectives), this Special Issue can serve as a reference for future research directions while accelerating the transition of lab-scale innovations to practical applications.

Dr. Changcun Li
Prof. Dr. Omar Chmaissem
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Crystals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • thermoelectric material 
  • thermoelectric efficiency
  • X-ray diffraction
  • electrical conductivity 
  • Seebeck coefficient 
  • thermal conductivity 
  • ZT value
  • band gap
  • phonon engineering
  • microstructure 
  • sustainable materials 
  • energy harvesting

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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