Thermoelectric materials generate an electromotive force when submitted to
a thermal gradient with an efficiency scaled by the so-called figure of mer
it: Z = alpha (2)sigma/kappa, where cu is the Seebeck coefficient, sigma th
e electronic conductivity and kappa the thermal conductivity. Theoretical c
onsiderations have shown that a large value of Z requires not only a small
value of kappa but also a large effective mass of charge carriers. The firs
t condition is met in filled skutterudites, which have been studied extensi
vely for this reason. The second condition suggests we focus our attention
on skutterudites filled with an anomalous rare-earth element such as cerium
, presenting heavy fermion characteristics. In this context, we report in t
his paper a study of the magnetic properties of CeFe4Sb12 and their evoluti
on upon cerium dilution. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
.