Filled Skutterudites as Thermoelectric Materials

The highest known thermoelectric figure of merit was observed in one of these materials.

Filled skutterudites have shown promise as semiconducting materials with superior thermoelectric properties at temperatures up to at least 650 °C. This finding is a breakthrough in a continuing investigation of the potential utility of skutterudites as thermoelectric materials. Previous results of this investigation were reported in several articles in NASA Tech Briefs; namely, "Skutterudite Compounds for Power Semiconductor Devices" (NPO-19378), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 20, No. 3 (March 1996), page 60; "Two Potentially Useful Ternary Skutterudite Compounds" (NPO-19409), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 20, No. 11 (November 1996), page 66; and "Preparation and Some Properties of n-Type Ir_xCo_{1 — x}Sb₃" (NPO-19852), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 20, No. 11 (November 1996), page 94.