Rapid preparation method of bulk nanostructured Yb_0.3Co₄Sb_12+y compounds and their improved thermoelectric performance

A synthetic route was introduced to speed up the preparation of high performance nanostructured Yb_0.3Co₄Sb_12+y (y=0.3 and 0.6) compounds. Compared with the samples prepared by a traditional method, the processing time is reduced from the typical 10 days to less than 40 h, the Yb filling fraction limit increases, and the resulting thermoelectric transport properties are improved significantly. As a consequence, the dimensionless figure of merit of our bulk nanostructured Yb_0.3Co₄Sb_12.3 reaches 1.3 at 800 K. The enhanced thermoelectric performance coupled with the dramatically reduced processing time will be of considerable significance to the commercial-scale production of skutterudite-based thermoelectric materials.