Preparation and some properties of {ital n}-type Ir{sub {ital x}}Co{sub 1{minus}{ital x}}Sb{sub 3} solid solutions
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91109 (United States)
A number of studies have been recently devoted to the preparation and characterization of binary skutterudite materials to investigate their potential as advanced thermoelectric materials. These studies show that the potential of these binary skutterudite compounds is limited because of their relatively large thermal conductivity. In order to achieve high thermoelectric figure of merits for these materials, efforts should focus on thermal conductivity reduction. Recent results obtained on {ital n}-type CoSb{sub 3} and IrSb{sub 3} compounds have shown that {ital n}-type skutterudite materials might have a better potential for thermoelectric applications than {ital p}-type materials. The thermoelectric properties of {ital p}-type Ir{sub {ital x}}Co{sub 1{minus}{ital x}}Sb{sub 3} solid solutions have been recently investigated and it was shown that a substantial reduction in thermal conductivity was achieved. We prepared and measured some properties of {ital n}-type Ir{sub {ital x}}Co{sub 1{minus}{ital x}}Sb{sub 3} solid solutions. The samples are characterized by large Seebeck coefficient values and significantly lower thermal conductivity values than those measured on the binary compounds CoSb{sub 3} and IrSb{sub 3}. A maximum thermoelectric figure of merit ZT value of about 0.4 was obtained at a temperature of about 600 K. Improvements in the figure of merit are possible in this system by optimization of the doping level. {copyright} {ital 1996 American Institute of Physics.}
- OSTI ID:
- 385497
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960109--
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 361; ISSN APCPCS; ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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