Abstract
Thermoelectric materials have attracted great interest during the last several decades because of their high potential for generating clean energy through devices containing no moving parts or maintenance. They are governed by the Seebeck and Peltier effects which refer to the generation of electrical energy through a temperature difference between two junctions and vice versa respectively. However, the major drawback to these devices is the lower efficiency compared to other approaches. Recently, the advancements in the field of nanotechnology have allowed the development of new materials with superior properties to increase the thermoelectric efficiency in terms of the figure of merit allowing commercially viable thermoelectric devices to exist. This review article summarizes the main thermoelectric materials studied in the past few years and focuses on perovskite oxide based materials. Approaches to improve the thermoelectric performance of these materials are also listed. Finally, the current state of the thermoelectric field of study is also considered and future research is discussed.
Keywords: Hydrothermal synthesis, nanotechnology, oxides, perovskite, renewable energy, thermoelectrics.
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