Advanced organic thermoelectric materials: from fundamentals to applications

Jiajia Zhang; Qikai Li; Fangyi Sun; Zhijun Chen; Xuefeng Guo; Weishu Liu

doi:10.1016/j.ccr.2026.217639

Advanced organic thermoelectric materials: from fundamentals to applications

Jiajia Zhang (Co-first Author), Qikai Li (Co-first Author), Fangyi Sun, Zhijun Chen^*, Xuefeng Guo^*, Weishu Liu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Systems Engineering

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

Abstract

Organic thermoelectric (TE) materials have attracted significant attention because of their mechanical flexibility, lightweight, and large-scale solution processability, resulting in considerable progress over the past 20 years. In this review, we present a comprehensive and timely survey of organic TE materials, focusing on their molecular structure, charge transport mechanisms, and material-level optimization strategies. We further highlight their promising applications, including power generation, active cooling, temperature sensing, and photothermal sensing. Despite these advances, the TE figure of merit (ZT) obtained for organic TE materials still lags behind that of inorganic TE materials. Therefore, this review also critically examines the underlying challenges contributing to the low ZT values in organic systems. Finally, we provide a forward-looking perspective on future research directions to enhance the performance of organic TE materials. © 2026 Elsevier B.V.

Original language	English
Article number	217639
Number of pages	34
Journal	Coordination Chemistry Reviews
Volume	556
Online published	6 Feb 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccr.2026.217639
Publication status	Online published - 6 Feb 2026

Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFF1205803 and 2021YFA1200101), Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (2024B0101040002), Shenzhen Innovation Program for Distinguished Young Scholars (RCJC20210706091949018), National Natural Science Foundation of China (22595391), National Natural Science Foundation of China for Distinguished Young Scholars (T2425012), Fundamental and Interdisciplinary Disciplines Breakthrough Plan of the Ministry of Education of China (JYB2025XDXM404), Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS-CXXM-202407), and Special Funds for the Cultivation of Guangdong College Students' Scientific and Technological Innovation (pdjh2025c20902).

Research Keywords

Organic thermoelectric
Molecular structure
Charge transport
Thermal transport
Doping mechanism
Hybrid composite

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10.1016/j.ccr.2026.217639

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title = "Advanced organic thermoelectric materials: from fundamentals to applications",

abstract = "Organic thermoelectric (TE) materials have attracted significant attention because of their mechanical flexibility, lightweight, and large-scale solution processability, resulting in considerable progress over the past 20 years. In this review, we present a comprehensive and timely survey of organic TE materials, focusing on their molecular structure, charge transport mechanisms, and material-level optimization strategies. We further highlight their promising applications, including power generation, active cooling, temperature sensing, and photothermal sensing. Despite these advances, the TE figure of merit (ZT) obtained for organic TE materials still lags behind that of inorganic TE materials. Therefore, this review also critically examines the underlying challenges contributing to the low ZT values in organic systems. Finally, we provide a forward-looking perspective on future research directions to enhance the performance of organic TE materials. {\textcopyright} 2026 Elsevier B.V.",

keywords = "Organic thermoelectric, Molecular structure, Charge transport, Thermal transport, Doping mechanism, Hybrid composite",

author = "Jiajia Zhang and Qikai Li and Fangyi Sun and Zhijun Chen and Xuefeng Guo and Weishu Liu",

year = "2026",

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doi = "10.1016/j.ccr.2026.217639",

language = "English",

volume = "556",

journal = "Coordination Chemistry Reviews",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Advanced organic thermoelectric materials

T2 - from fundamentals to applications

AU - Zhang, Jiajia

AU - Li, Qikai

AU - Sun, Fangyi

AU - Chen, Zhijun

AU - Guo, Xuefeng

AU - Liu, Weishu

PY - 2026/2/6

Y1 - 2026/2/6

N2 - Organic thermoelectric (TE) materials have attracted significant attention because of their mechanical flexibility, lightweight, and large-scale solution processability, resulting in considerable progress over the past 20 years. In this review, we present a comprehensive and timely survey of organic TE materials, focusing on their molecular structure, charge transport mechanisms, and material-level optimization strategies. We further highlight their promising applications, including power generation, active cooling, temperature sensing, and photothermal sensing. Despite these advances, the TE figure of merit (ZT) obtained for organic TE materials still lags behind that of inorganic TE materials. Therefore, this review also critically examines the underlying challenges contributing to the low ZT values in organic systems. Finally, we provide a forward-looking perspective on future research directions to enhance the performance of organic TE materials. © 2026 Elsevier B.V.

AB - Organic thermoelectric (TE) materials have attracted significant attention because of their mechanical flexibility, lightweight, and large-scale solution processability, resulting in considerable progress over the past 20 years. In this review, we present a comprehensive and timely survey of organic TE materials, focusing on their molecular structure, charge transport mechanisms, and material-level optimization strategies. We further highlight their promising applications, including power generation, active cooling, temperature sensing, and photothermal sensing. Despite these advances, the TE figure of merit (ZT) obtained for organic TE materials still lags behind that of inorganic TE materials. Therefore, this review also critically examines the underlying challenges contributing to the low ZT values in organic systems. Finally, we provide a forward-looking perspective on future research directions to enhance the performance of organic TE materials. © 2026 Elsevier B.V.

KW - Organic thermoelectric

KW - Molecular structure

KW - Charge transport

KW - Thermal transport

KW - Doping mechanism

KW - Hybrid composite

UR - https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:001686340300002

U2 - 10.1016/j.ccr.2026.217639

DO - 10.1016/j.ccr.2026.217639

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 0010-8545

VL - 556

JO - Coordination Chemistry Reviews

JF - Coordination Chemistry Reviews

M1 - 217639

ER -

Advanced organic thermoelectric materials: from fundamentals to applications

Abstract

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