To enable a thermoelectric material to be reduced in heat conductivity an enhanced in figure of merit by a method, wherein the thermoelectric material is formed of a skutterudite compound and set less than a specific value in average crystal grain diameter.
A skutterudite thermoelectric material is formed of a skutterudite compound such as an AB3 compound, a substituent compound, or an interstitial compound and contains a very small amount of additive impurities, as necessary. A CoSb3 compound and a Co1-XMXSb3 (M contains one or more elements selected from among Pd, Rh, Ru, and Pt, X=0 to 0.2) are used as the AB3 compound and the substituent compound respectively. The skutterudite thermoelectric material is 1 μm or below in average crystal grain diameter. By this setup, a skutterudite thermoelectric material can be significantly lessened in thermal conductivity and enhanced in figure of merit.
KASAMA AKIO
TANAKA HISAO
TANIGUCHI MOTOMU
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