CLATHRATE COMPOUND, HIGHLY EFFICIENT THERMOELECTRIC MATERIAL, THEIR PRODUCTION AND THERMOELECTRIC MODULE USING HIGHLY EFFICIENT THERMOELECTRIC MATERIAL

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a clathrate compound expected for application to a highly efficient thermoelectric material having a performance index exceeding 1 so as to satisfy three conditions such as a high thermal conductivity, a high Seebeck coefficient and a high electroconductivity. SOLUTION: This clathrate compound consists essentially of a clathrate lattice consisting essentially of atoms of a group IVB element of the periodic table such as Si or Ge, at least one kind of doping atom in groups IA, IIA, IIIA, IB, IIB and IIIB atoms of the periodic table included in lattice gaps of the clathrate lattice and having a larger mass than that of constituent atoms of the clathrate lattice and at least one kind of substituted atom in groups VA, VIA, VIIA, VB, VIB, VIIB and VIII atoms of the periodic table substituted for at least a part of the atoms constituting the clathrate lattice.