Seebeck coefficients of iron group elements borides

In order to explore n-type borides-based thermoelectric materials, Seebeck coefficients of Fe–Co–B and Ni–Co–B materials were measured between 430 and 960 K. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of FexCo1–xB(x⩽0.5) showed that FeB and CoB form solid solutions but their Seebeck coefficients were negative only at x=0 (i.e. CoB) or 0.01. As for Ni–Co–B, XRD patterns of Ni2B were observed in NixCo1–xB(x⩾0.02) other than that of CoB. Seebeck coefficients of NixCo1–xB (x=0.02−0.07) showed more negative values than pure CoB.