The thermoelectric effect encompasses three different effects, i.e. Seebeck effect, Peltier effect, and Thomson effect, which are considered as thermally activated materials that alter directions in smart materials. It is currently considered one of the most challenging green energy harvesting mechanisms among researchers. The ability to utilize waste thermal energy that is generated by different applications promotes the use of thermoelectric harvesters across a wide range of applications. This review illustrates the different attempts to fabricate efficient, robust and sustainable thermoelectric harvesters, considering the material selection, characterization, device fabrication and potential applications. Thermoelectric harvesters with a wide range of output power generated reaching the milliwatt range have been considered in this work, with a special focus on the main advantages and disadvantages in these devices. Additionally, this review presents various studies reported in the literature on the design and fabrication of thermoelectric harvesters and highlights their potential applications. In order to increase the efficiency of equipment and processes, the generation of thermoelectricity via thermoelectric materials is achieved through the harvesting of residual energy. The review discusses the main challenges in the fabrication process associated with thermoelectric harvester implementation, as well as the considerable advantages of the proposed devices. The use of thermoelectric harvesters in a wide range of applications where waste thermal energy is used and the impact of the thermoelectric harvesters is also highlighted in this review.

热电效应包括三个不同的效应，即塞贝克效应，珀尔帖效应和汤姆森效应，它们被认为是改变了智能材料方向的热活化材料。目前，它被认为是研究人员中最具挑战性的绿色能源收集机制之一。利用由不同应用产生的废热能的能力促进了热电收集器在各种应用中的使用。这篇综述说明了在考虑材料选择，特性，设备制造和潜在应用之后，制造高效，坚固和可持续的热电收割机的不同尝试。在这项工作中，已经考虑了产生广泛功率达到毫瓦范围的热电收割机，特别关注这些设备的主要优点和缺点。此外，本综述还介绍了文献中有关热电收集器设计和制造的各种研究，并重点介绍了它们的潜在应用。为了提高设备和过程的效率，通过热电材料的热发电是通过收集剩余能量来实现的。这篇综述讨论了与热电收割机实施相关的制造过程中的主要挑战，以及所提出装置的巨大优势。在这篇综述中，热电收割机在使用废热能的广泛应用中也得到了广泛的应用，热电收割机的影响也得到了强调。