Abstract
It is indispensable for the thermoelectric power generation harnessing waste thermal energy to develop the highperformance thermoelectric materials covering the middle temperature range between 500 and 800 K. Skutterudite compounds and filled skutterudite compounds are the hopeful thermoelectric materials for the middle temperature range. These compounds are usually synthesized by melting. In this study, a skutterudite compound CoSb3 was focused and prepared through the synthesis by mechanical alloying (MA) and the consolidation by spark plasma sintering (SPS). In order to obtain a single phase of the compound CoSb3, the MA syntheses were carried out under various MA conditions in milling time and rotation speed. XRDs were measured to identify the phases for the MA powders and the sintered bodies. The thermoelectric properties of the consolidated compounds were also measured. The influences of MA conditions on the properties were discussed. It was clarified, as a result, that Seebeck coefficient and electrical resistivity are influenced by the milling time and the rotation speed.
