Thanks to the combined efforts of scientists in several research fields, the preceding decade has witnessed considerable progress in the use of conjugated polymers as emerging thermoelectric materials leading to significant improvements in performance and demonstration of a number of diverse applications. Despite these recent advances, systematic assessments of the impact of molecular design on thermoelectric properties are scarce. Although several reviews marginally highlight the role of chemical structure, the understanding of structure-performance relationships is still fragmented. An in-depth understanding of the relationship between molecular structure and thermoelectric properties will enable the rational design of next-generation thermoelectric polymers. To this end, this review showcases the state-of-the-art thermoelectric polymers, discusses structure-performance relationships, suggests strategies for improving thermoelectric performance that go beyond molecular design, and highlights some of the most impressive applications of thermoelectric polymers.

由于多个研究领域的科学家的共同努力，在过去十年中，共轭聚合物作为新兴热电材料的使用取得了长足的进步，从而显着提高了性能并展示了许多不同的应用。尽管最近取得了这些进展，但对分子设计对热电性能影响的系统评估仍然很少。尽管有几篇评论略微强调了化学结构的作用，但对结构-性能关系的理解仍然支离破碎。深入了解分子结构和热电性能之间的关系，将有助于合理设计下一代热电聚合物。为此，这篇综述展示了最先进的热电聚合物，