Pressure Tuning in the Chemical Search for Improved Thermoelectric Materials:  Nd<i>_x</i>Ce_3-<i>_x</i>Pt₃Sb₄

Abstract

The interaction parameters that determine materials properties are generally sensitive to pressure. Thus, pressure tuning provides a means to rapidly explore a material's interaction parameter phase space to increase the rate of discovery of materials with improved properties. Here we report a significant improvement in the thermoelectric properties of the Kondo insulator NdxCe3-xPt3Sb4 upon pressure tuning to 2 GPa. This result provides a target for synthetic attempts at ambient pressure to duplicate the observed improved high-pressure behavior.