Influence of high energy β-radiation on thermoelectric performance of filled skutterudites compounds

• Impact by MeV β-rays irradiation on skutterudite TE material was investigated.
• Monte-Carlo simulation is used to simulate the deposited energy irradiations.
• The high deposited energy does not change the TE performance.
• The light irradiation does not show a significant impact on TE materials.

The influence of MeV β-rays irradiation on the thermoelectric performance of n-type filled skutterudite material has been investigated using an electron accelerator. Using a Monte-Carlo simulation base on Fluka code, the deposited energy in the sample material from the irradiation is estimated, which shows a large power deposited around 50 W/mm. Nevertheless, the thermoelectric performances of the filled skutterudite samples are compared before and after irradiations. It indicates that the thermoelectric material will not be easily jeopardized by ‘light’ irradiations with energy lower than MeV range.