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The Czochralski method was used to grow a 46-mm-long crystal of the Ba8Ga16Ge30 clathrate, which was cut into disks that were evaluated for thermoelectric performance. The Seebeck coefficient and electrical and thermal conductivities all showed evidence of a transition from extrinsic to intrinsic behavior in the range of 600–900K. The corresponding figure of merit (ZT) was found to be a record high of 1.35 at 900K and with an extrapolated maximum of 1.63 at 1100K. This makes the Ba8Ga16Ge30 clathrate an exceptionally strong candidate for medium and high-temperature thermoelectric applications.
Saramat et al. (Sun,) studied this question.