Low temperature thermoelectric properties of Ni doped n-type filled skutterudites Ba/sub 0.3/Co/sub 4/Sb/sub 12/

n-type Ba filled skutterudites doped with Ni, Ba/sub 0.3/Ni/sub x/Co/sub 4-x/Sb/sub 12/ with 0/spl les/x/spl les/0.2, have been synthesized and the Seebeck coefficient, thermal conductivity, electrical resistivity and Hall coefficient have been measured. ZT of 1.2 has been achieved at 800 K with x=0.05. The thermal conductivity data are fitted and the rattling effect of the Ba atoms is identified through a resonance scattering term. The Hall mobility is studied and a mixed scattering mechanism of acoustic phonons and ionized impurities based on a single, rigid band picture is presented. The role of Ni atoms in enhancing the thermoelectric performance is discussed.