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The 2H (MoS2-type) phase of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) has been extensively studied and exhibits excellent electronic and optoelectronic properties, but the high phonon thermal conductivity is detrimental to the thermoelectric performances. Here, we use first-principles methods combined with Boltzmann transport theory to calculate the electronic and phononic transport properties of 1T (CdI2-type) SnSe2 monolayer, a recently realized 2D metal dichalcogenide semiconductor. The calculated band gap is 0.85 eV, which is a little larger than the bulk value. Lower phonon thermal conductivity and higher power factor are obtained in 1T-SnSe2 monolayer compared to 2H-TMDCs monolayers. The low phonon thermal conductivity (3.27 W mK−1 at room temperature) is mainly due to the low phonon frequency of acoustic modes and the coupling of acoustic modes with optical modes. We also find that the p-type has better thermoelectric performance than the n-type, and the figure of merit within p-type can reach 0.94 at 600 K for 1T-SnSe2 monolayer, which is higher than those of most 2H-TMDCs monolayers, making 1T-SnSe2 monolayer a promising candidate for thermoelectric applications.

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Using first-principle calculations combined with Boltzmann transport theory, we investigate the biaxial strain effect on the electronic and phonon thermal transport properties of a 1 T (CdI-type) structural TiS monolayer, a recent experimental two-dimensional (2D) material. It is found that the electronic band structure can be effectively modulated and that the band gap experiences an indirect-direct-indirect transition with increasing tensile strain. The band convergence induced by the tensile strain increases the Seebeck coefficient and the power factor, while the lattice thermal conductivity is decreased under the tensile strain due to the decreasing group velocity and the increasing scattering chances between the acoustic phonon modes and the optical phonon modes, which together greatly increase the thermoelectric performance. The figure of merit can reach 0.95 (0.82) at an 8 percent tensile strain for the p-type (n-type) doping, which is much larger than that without strain. The present work suggests that the TiS monolayer is a good candidate for 2D thermoelectric materials, and that biaxial strain is a powerful tool with which to enhance thermoelectric performance.

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