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The thermal expansion coefficient of polycrystalline CePdSb shows no feature at the Curie point (17 K) but a broad peak near 10 K, in agreement with earlier measurements of the magnetic heat capacity. Single-crystal measurements show that the thermal expansion coefficient of the magnetically hard c direction is an order of magnitude greater than that of the a or b direction. The temperature dependence of the zero external field Sb NMR does not show any unusual behaviour near 10 K.

The properties of polycrystalline CeAgSb2 have been investigated. The magnetic contribution to the linear thermal expansion coefficient of CeAgSb2 in zero magnetic field has a broad maximum value of 7.9×10−6 K−1 near 17 K but there is no peak at the Neel temperature T N 9.5 K. The Neel temperature is found to decrease under pressure at the rate ∂ ( ln T N )/ ∂ P=−10.1 Mbar−1 indicating that it is a magnetic Kondo lattice on the right-hand side of the Doniach diagram. Below TN the magnetostriction shows hysteresis with an average high field value ∂ ( ln V)/ ∂ B≈+6×10 −6 T−1.