Study of the thermoelectric properties of CePd3Bx

Intermetallic CePd3Bx was studied by the means of X-ray diffraction and transport measurements in a temperature range of 0.5-300 K. The introduction of boron into CePd3 causes a non-Vergard law-like behaviour of the lattice constant which is attributed to the intermediate valence of the Ce ions. With increasing boron content T-K is driven towards zero until at a threshold of about 20% boron concentration the behaviour of the material changes completely. We compare the measured data with theoretical models and try to understand how the thermoelectric properties can be tuned by introduction of extrinsic atoms. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.