We present a comprehensive study of the thermoelectric properties of hexagonal Zintl-phase compounds XMg2Y2 (X=Ca, Sr, Ba; Y=As, Sb, Bi) by combining lattice dynamics and electronic transport calculations. Our results reveal that anharmonic phonon renormalization (APRN) systematically enhances the lattice thermal conductivity through modifications of the phonon velocity operator and temperature-dependent evolution of the scattering phase space. The pronounced double-band-gap feature in the phonon dispersion, arising from the significant mass mismatch between VA-group and alkaline-earth elements, promotes phonon mode localization, thereby intensifying phonon scattering despite a reduction in the weighted phase space. In addition, phonon localization is found to originate from bond anisotropy and the weak local coordination of Ca atoms, while phonon tunneling beyond the Peierls’s framework plays only a minor role in lattice thermal transport. On the electronic side, the intrinsic SOC effect of Bi atoms splits the band-edge degeneracy, suppressing the Seebeck coefficient and moderating enhancement. By combining lattice and electronic contributions, we obtain a maximum approaching unity in intrinsic CaMg2Bi2 at 700 K. Although not yet sufficient for practical devices, these findings establish 122-phase XMg2Y2 as a promising intrinsic p-type thermoelectric platform with excellent thermal stability, maintaining structural robustness even up to 1000 K, and underscore the broader importance of mass disparity, bonding anisotropy, and SOC-induced band splitting in guiding the design of next-generation thermoelectric materials
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