Electron Microscopy for Characterization of Thermoelectric Nanomaterials

Thermoelectric (TE) materials, capable of scavenging electric power from sources of waste heat, are currently receiving significant attention as a part of the search for sustainable energy sources. Most state-of-the-art TE materials are characterized with various microstructural features from fine grains, dispersed nanoprecipitates, to atomic-scale lattice disorder, accompanying strains around above various defects. These microstructural features are essential for understanding the mechanism and also powerful guides to exploit new TE materials with higher performance and lower cost. Recently, the electron microscopy has evolved into a powerful analytical tool to provide micro-/nano-/atomic-scale information of TE materials. Thus we mainly review the application of various electron microscopy technologies in PbTe-based TE materials in this chapter.