Ba xPd 4Sn ySb 12-y: A new palladium-containing skutterudite

Abstract

A new compound with the filled-skutterudite structure, Ba x Pd 4Sn y Sb 12-y, was prepared by the flux growth and spark plasma sintering (SPS) techniques. The crystal structure was determined from single crystal and powder x-ray diffraction data. The structure is electronically stabilized by the Sn:Sb ratio, and the lattice parameters depend on this ratio. For magnetic, electrical conductivity, Hall coefficient, Seebeck coefficient and thermal conductivity measurements, single crystal and/or SPS-densified specimens were utilized. Ba 1.0Pd 4Sn 7.1Sb 5.2 exhibits diamagnetic behavior. The Hall coefficient is negative and increases with temperature. The lattice thermal conductivity of Ba 0.97Pd 4Sn 6.90Sb 4.97 (SPS-densified) is smaller than for CoSb 3, but the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) is comparatively low due to the low Seebeck coefficient. © 2010 The Author(s).