Table-like magnetocaloric effect of Fe88-xNdxCr8B4 composite materials

The narrow working temperature range due to the sharp magnetic entropy change vertical bar Delta S-M vertical bar peak and large thermal or magnetic hysteresis restricts the practical application of magnetocaloric materials. In this work, the table-like magnetocaloric effect (MCE) was obtained in the multilayer composite of Fe88-xNdxCr8B4 alloys with various Nd substitutions for Fe (x=5, 8, 10, 12, and 15), which were prepared by arc-melting followed by melt-spinning. The substation of Nd was found to enhance the glass-forming ability. For the alloys with Nd substitution from 5 at% to 15 at%, the Curie temperature (T-C) ranged from 322 K to 350 K and the peak value of vertical bar Delta S-M vertical bar remained almost constant, 3.4-3.5 J/(kg K) under an applied held of 0-5 T The composite with various Nd contents was prepared by stocking the ribbons layer by layer. The vertical bar Delta S-M vertical bar of the composite approached a nearly constant value of similar to 3.2 J/(kg K) in a held change of 0-5 T in a wide temperature span over 40 K, resulting in large refrigerant capacity value of >408 J/kg. This vertical bar Delta S-M vertical bar value was much larger than the previous reported Fe-based amorphous composite Fe78-xCexSi4Nb5B12Cu1. This composite can be used as the working material in the Ericsson-cycle magnetic regenerative refrigerator around room temperature. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.