Thermal and Electronic Transport Properties of the Half-Heusler Phase ScNiSb.

Thermoelectric properties of the half-Heusler phase ScNiSb (space group 4 ¯ 3) were studied on a polycrystalline single-phase sample obtained by arc-melting and spark-plasma-sintering techniques. Measurements of the thermopower, electrical resistivity, and thermal conductivity were performed in the wide temperature range 2-950 K. The material appeared as a -type conductor, with a fairly large, positive Seebeck coefficient of about 240 μV K near 450 K.