| 摘要 |
<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sintered compact of lanthanoid sesquisulfide for thermoelectric conversion element having a large Seebeck coefficient in the sesquisulfide and a small specific resistance and a large power factor when electrical conductivity is added to the compact. <P>SOLUTION: A thermoelectric conversion material composed of the sintered compact of Ln<SB>2</SB>S<SB>3</SB>contains at least one kind of element selected out of Ge and Nb in the sintered compact of lanthanoid sesquisulfide obtained by mixing at least one kind of powder selected out of Ge powder and Nb powder in the powder of β-type lanthanoid sesquisulfide expressed by the compositional formula of Ln<SB>2</SB>S<SB>3</SB>(wherein, Ln denotes at least one kind selected from among a group La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, and Lu), and sintering the mixed powder in a state where the element is scattered in the sintered compact as metallic particles. The sintered compact contains the β-type lanthanoid sesquisulfide as the main component in its crystal structure. The thermoelectric conversion material has a specific resistance of ≤10 Ωcm. An identical thermoelectric conversion material can be obtained even when carbon powder is used instead of the Ge or Nb powder. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI |
