Thermoelectric properties of RE2−xMxCuO4 oxide sintering bulks

La2−xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) and Sm2−xCexCuO4 (SCCO) polycrystal bulks with x=0 to 0.10 were made by solid‐phase reaction method. From the X‐ray diffraction patterns, LSCO and SCCO were confirmed single phase. Seebeck coefficient, resistivity, and heat conductivity decreased with increasing amount of Sr2+ and Ce2+ substitution. We estimated ZT from these values and found that the highest value of ZT=0.034 at 323 K was achieved in the LSCO with x=0.02. As a result, we conclude that LSCO and SCCO showed high thermoelectric properties around room temperature. We can expect RE2−xMxCuO4 will be a very useful material for thermoelectric module operating at room temperature. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electron Comm Jpn, 91(12): 24–28, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ecj.10003