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Scientific Reading

Selected research papers and reviews on thermoelectric materials, phonon transport and functional oxides.

Scientific reading

A curated starting point for understanding thermoelectric transport, phonon engineering and oxide thermoelectrics. The list prioritizes papers that help build a physical framework or identify current research directions.

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Showing all selected papers

FOUNDATIONAL REVIEW2008

Complex thermoelectric materials

G. J. Snyder and E. S. Toberer · Nature Materials 7, 105–114 (2008)

A classic framework for balancing Seebeck coefficient, electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity, with emphasis on carrier concentration and complex structures.

ZTPower factorMaterials design
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PHONON ENGINEERING2015

Strategies for engineering phonon transport in thermoelectrics

W. Kim · Journal of Materials Chemistry C 3, 10336–10348 (2015)

Organizes phonon-scattering strategies involving grain boundaries, alloy atoms, vacancies, nanoparticles and phonon–phonon interactions.

Phonon scatteringκLDefects
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COMPUTATIONAL DESIGN2021

Thermoelectrics by Computational Design: Progress and Opportunities

Review · Annual Review of Materials Research (2021)

Connects computational screening and transport theory with lattice thermal conductivity, phonon scattering and materials discovery.

Computational materialsκLScreening
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OXIDE THERMOELECTRICS2024

Oxide semiconductors for thermoelectric: The challenges and future

B. Ge et al. · Journal of the American Ceramic Society 107, 1985–1995 (2024)

Discusses why oxide thermoelectrics are difficult to optimize and reviews carrier concentration, band-gap tuning, bond strength, entropy and microstructure strategies.

Oxide ceramicsDefect engineeringκL
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RECENT COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW2026

Advances in oxide thermoelectric materials: strategies, applications and beyond

Q. Wang et al. · Chemical Society Reviews 55, 358–399 (2026)

A particularly relevant review covering oxide families, synthesis, defect engineering, high-entropy design, texturization, carrier–phonon decoupling and emerging applications.

Oxide TECarrier–phonon decoupling2026 review
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FRONTIER REVIEW2026

Designing advanced thermoelectrics

Review · Nature Reviews Materials 11, 761–778 (2026)

Examines how defects, electronic structure, lattice dynamics and crystal symmetry can be designed to improve charge transport while suppressing heat transport.

Defect physicsLattice dynamicsAdvanced design
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Suggested reading sequence

  1. Start with the transport trade-off: Snyder & Toberer (2008).
  2. Build the phonon picture: Kim (2015), then the computational-design review.
  3. Focus on oxides: Ge et al. (2024), followed by Wang et al. (2026).
  4. Move to current research questions: the 2026 Nature Reviews Materials perspective.

Research questions worth developing

  • Can point defects reduce lattice thermal conductivity without imposing a comparable penalty on carrier mobility?
  • Which phonon frequencies are most effectively scattered by grain boundaries, mass disorder, vacancies and nanoscale interfaces?
  • How can oxygen non-stoichiometry be quantified independently of surface-sensitive XPS fitting?
  • Can structural disorder, local symmetry breaking or high-entropy design improve carrier–phonon decoupling in oxide ceramics?
  • How can temperature-dependent transport, structural refinement and microstructural evidence be combined into a defensible mechanism?

The reading list is selective, not exhaustive. Bibliographic metadata and DOI links are provided for traceability; check the publisher record for the final citation format before citing a paper in a manuscript.