Single‐Molecule Thermoelectric Devices

Shrinking organic thermoelectric (OTE) devices down to the single molecule scale provides great opportunities to probe the fundamental structure-property relationships of OTE materials. Single-molecule thermoelectric (SM-TE) devices also hold the promise of achieving unprecedented high-thermoelectric conversion efficiency by harnessing quantum effects. During the last decade, the developments of experimental techniques significantly advance the studies of thermoelectric effects at the molecular level and deepen the understanding of electrical, thermal, and thermoelectric transport properties at the nanoscale. In this chapter, we present the basic principles and the emerging experimental techniques employed for studying single-molecule thermoelectricity, discuss the advances, and provide perspective on the developments of molecular thermoelectrics.