A Review of the Characteristics, Synthesis, and Thermodynamics of Type-II Weyl Semimetal WTe₂.

WTe₂ as a candidate of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) exhibits many excellent properties, such as non-saturable large magnetoresistance (MR). Firstly, the crystal structure and characteristics of WTe₂ are introduced, followed by a summary of the synthesis methods. Its thermodynamic properties are highlighted due to the insufficient research. Finally, a comprehensive analysis and discussion are introduced to interpret the advantages, challenges, and future prospects. Some results are shown as follows. (1) The chiral anomaly, pressure-induced conductivity, and non-saturable large MR are all unique properties of WTe₂ that attract wide attention, but it is also a promising thermoelectric material that holds anisotropic ultra-low thermal conductivity (0.46 W·m(−1)·K(−1)). WTe₂ is expected to have the lowest thermal conductivity, owing to the heavy atom mass and low Debye temperature. (2) The synthesis methods influence the properties significantly. Although large-scale few-layer WTe₂ in high quality can be obtained by many methods, the preparation has not yet been industrialized, which limits its applications. (3) The thermodynamic properties of WTe₂ are influenced by temperature, scale, and lattice orientations. However, the in-plane anisotropy cannot be observed in the experiment, as the intrinsic property is suppressed by defects and boundary scattering. Overall, this work provides an opportunity to develop the applications of WTe₂.