ABSTRACT
Skutterudites are binary compounds with the chemical formula MX3, where M = Co, Rh, Ir and the pnicogen atom X = P, As, Sb. Since the mid-1990s, they have been intensively studied as one of the novel families of prospective thermoelectric materials. It is now more than 5 years since the last CRC Handbook on “ermoelectric Materials [1] was published in which I reported on the progress and perspectives of skutterudites as power-generating thermoelectric materials for the intermediate range of temperatures 500-900 K. Since that time, major advances have been made in the development of n-type skutterudites with the dimensionless ›gure of merit now approaching and, perhaps even exceeding, values as high as 1.5. še progress made is a re¡ection of the world-wide interest in this family of thermoelectrics and the ›rm belief that skutterudites have a great prospect to make a major impact in the area of waste industrial heat recovery and speci›cally as it applies to automotive operations. Now that reliable measurements of mechanical properties are also at hand, engineers and scientists recognize the advantages skutterudites o¤er in terms of their robust structure that bodes well for the fabrication of modules expected to withstand the harsh environment of high temperatures and mechanical stresses.
