Structural Disorder Engineered Thermoelectric Materials

The strategic application of structural disorder engineering in materials science, particularly in thermoelectrics, has been widely recognized for its pivotal role in optimizing both phonon and electron transport properties. A broad range of structural disorder types has been explored, including alloying/doping-induced substitutional disorder, amorphous disorder in noncrystalline systems, critical disorder during phase transitions, ionic dynamic disorder in liquid-like phases, crystal-amorphicity duality in hybrid structures, turbostratic disorder in layered compounds, and spin disorder in magnetic materials. However, these diverse forms of structural disorder are often not clearly distinguished or systematically analyzed in terms of their unique impacts on thermoelectric transport. In this review, we provide a comprehensive classification and analysis of various disorder types, detailing their structural characteristics, formation mechanisms, and specific effects on electron and phonon transport. Each structural disorder is illustrated through carefully selected case studies. In the end, we outline the current challenges and future directions in disorder engineering for thermoelectrics. Overall, this review aims to advance the fundamental understanding of disorder effects and highlight their crucial significance for optimizing thermoelectric parameters.