The thermoelectric materials working in radioisotope thermoelectric generators or space reactor power system will be exposed to neutron irradiation in space missions. Herein, the influences of neutron irradiation with doses of 10¹³n/cm² and 10¹⁵n/cm² on the transport properties of p- and n-type Half-Heusler thermoelectric alloys were investigated. It was found that, neutron irradiation showed negative effects on thermoelectric properties of p-type Hf_0.5Zr_0.5CoSb_0.85Sn_0.15 and p-type Hf_0.5Ti_0.5CoSb_0.85Sn_0.15. But neutron irradiation had no effects on thermoelectric properties of n-type Hf_0.5Zr_0.5NiSn_0.985Sb_0.015 and n-type ZrNiSn_0.985Sb_0.015. After 10¹⁵n/cm² neutron irradiation, the electrical conductivity, power factor and ZT of p-type Half-Heusler alloys decreased by 7–22%, which was caused by the decreased carrier concentration. However, the radiation-induced changes in the thermoelectric properties proved to be essentially healed by annealing at 773 K ~ 873 K. The anti-annealing effects were also studied.

在放射性同位素热电发生器或空间反应堆动力系统中工作的热电材料将在太空任务中暴露于中子辐射下。在此，研究了中子辐照剂量分别为10 ¹³ n / cm ²和10 ¹⁵ n / cm ²对p型和n型Half-Heusler热电合金的输运性能的影响。发现中子辐照对p型Hf _0.5 Zr _0.5 CoSb _0.85 Sn _0.15和p型Hf _0.5 Ti _0.5 CoSb _0.85 Sn _0.15的热电性能有负面影响。但是中子辐照对n型Hf _0.5 Zr _0.5 NiSn _0.985 Sb _0.015和n型ZrNiSn _0.985 Sb _0.015的热电性能没有影响。在10 ¹⁵ n / cm ²中子辐照之后，p型Half-Heusler合金的电导率，功率因数和ZT降低了7–22％，这是由于载流子浓度降低所致。但是，通过在773 K〜873 K进行退火，证明了辐射诱导的热电特性变化基本得到了修复。还研究了抗退火作用。