Low-Temperature Transport Properties of In x Fe y Co4−y Sb12

• DOI: 10.1007/s11664-010-1117-4
• Publication Date: 2010-03-24T16:59:03Z
• Authors: J. Leszczynski; A. Dauscher; P. Masschelein; B. Lenoir
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology; 7. Clean energy

Interesting results for cobalt triantimonide partially filled with indium have encouraged us to explore skutterudites filled with higher indium fractions. For pure In x Co4Sb12, the fraction of voids filled is limited to about x = 0.25. To enable the insertion of more indium atoms, charge compensation is necessary. In this work, we studied the skutterudite compound In x Fe y Co4−y Sb12 partially filled with indium, where iron substitution for cobalt was employed for charge compensation. Polycrystalline samples were prepared by direct reaction of constituents. Structural and chemical characterization were accomplished by x-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Electrical resistivity, thermoelectric power, and thermal conductivity were measured between 2 K and 350 K. The influence of indium and iron on the charge-carrier transport properties and thermal conductivity in In x Fe y Co4−y Sb12 compounds is presented and discussed.