Abstract:Thermoelectric conversion as a new energy technology has attracted wide attention due to its wide application in waste heat recovery，thermoelectric refrigeration，aerospace and other fields. It is expected to fulfil the major national needs and help to achieve "carbon peak and carbon neutrality". It is of profound significance to improve the comprehensive thermoelectric performance of materials effectively to broaden the application of thermoelectric materials. Copper-based thermoelectric materials with diamond-like structure have attracted intensive attentions due to their advantages such as adjustable transport properties，high abundance and low toxicity. Therefore，it is of significance to summarize the progress in performance optimization of copper-based thermoelectric materials with diamond-like structures. In this review，the evolution of crystal structure，band structure and phonon spectrum characteristics of copper-based compounds with diamond-like structure were summarized. This review also summarized the research on improving electrical performance based on energy band structure modification and carrier concentration optimization. The mechanism of intrinsically low lattice thermal conductivity and the strategy for control of thermal transport performance by phonon engineering were reviewed as well. Finally，the advantages of copper-based compound thermoelectric materials with diamond-like structure and the current difficulty in their performance optimization were summarized，and the future optimization strategy was prospected.