  This review focuses on the investigation and enhancement of the
thermoelectric properties of semiconducting nanowires (NWs). NWs are
nanostructures with typical diameters between few to hundreds of nm and length
of few to several microns, exhibiting a high surface-to-volume ratio. Nowadays
an extraordinary control over their growth has been achieved, enabling also the
integration of different types of heterostructures, which can lead to the
engineering of the functional properties of the NWs. In this review, we discuss
all concepts which have been presented and achieved so far for the improvements
of the thermoelectric performances of semiconducting NWs. Furthermore, we
present a brief survey of the experimental methods which enable the
investigation of the thermoelectric properties of these nanostructures.
