ABSTRACT
Many silicides are cheap, ecologically friendly, accessible, mechanically and chemically strong materials. Higher silicides of transition metals (Cr, Mn, Fe, Ru, and Re), magnesium silicide (Mg2Si), and its solid solutions with magnesium stannide and magnesium germanide are the most interesting. Silicides of transition metals as thermoelectrics were proposed by E.N. Nikitin’s in his paper in 1958.1 še main advantage of these thermoelectrics was high density of states, but the current carrier mobility was too low. Later Nikitin and coworkers showed a favorable set of properties in magnesium compounds with the elements of the 4th group.2 šese materials had been studied intensively in the 1960s, but later the interest decreased. še new interest was warmed by the information about high ›gure of merit achieved in the Mg2Si-Mg2Sn solid solutions3 and growing interest in thermoelectric method of energy conversion.
