Room-temperature thermoelectric materials provide promising solutions for energy harvesting from the environment, and deliver a maintenance-free power supply for the internet-of-things (IoTs). The currently available Bi₂Te₃ family discovered in the 1950s, still dominates industrial applications, however, it has serious disadvantages of brittleness and the resource shortage of tellurium (1 × 10⁻³ ppm in the earth's crust). The novel Mg₃Sb₂ family has received increasing attention as a promising alternative for room-temperature thermoelectric materials. In this review, the development timeline and fabrication strategies of the Mg₃Sb₂ family are depicted. Moreover, an insightful comparison between the crystallinity and band structures of Mg₃Sb₂ and Bi₂Te₃ is drawn. An outlook is presented to discuss challenges and new paradigms in designing room-temperature thermoelectric materials.

室温热电材料为从环境中收集能量提供了有前景的解决方案，并为物联网 (IoT) 提供免维护电源。目前可用的在1950年代发现的Bi ₂ Te ₃族仍然在工业应用中占主导地位，但是它具有脆性和碲资源短缺（ 地壳中1×10 ^{-3 ppm）的严重缺点。}新型 Mg ₃ Sb ₂家族作为一种有前途的室温热电材料替代品受到了越来越多的关注。在这篇综述中，Mg ₃ Sb _{2的开发时间表和制造策略}家庭被描绘。_{此外，还对 Mg 3} Sb ₂和 Bi ₂ Te ₃的结晶度和能带结构进行了深入的比较。展望未来，讨论设计室温热电材料的挑战和新范例。