Magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of DyCo2Cx alloys

Abstract

The magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of DyCo2Cx (x = 0, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.15) alloys were investigated. The results show that the Curie temperature (TC) of the DyCo2Cx alloys increases with increasing C content, from 136 K (x = 0) to 152 K (x = 0.15), but the lattice parameter a of DyCo2Cx exhibits a maximum at x = 0.05. The suppression of the ac susceptibility of DyCo2Cx at low temperature indicates the enhancement of the domain wall pinning effect by carbon doping. The positive slops of the Arrott plots of the doped compounds indicate that the phase transition is second order for the carbon-doped alloys, and the maximum value of the isothermal magnetic entropy change (ΔSM) for the magnetic field change of 50 kOe decreases from −13.9 J/kg· K (x = 0) to −7.8 J/kg·K (x = 0.15). The relative cooling power (RCP) of DyCo2Cx is nearly the same in all studied alloys, while the temperature-averaged entropy change over 10 K temperature span, TEC(10), indicates decreasing magnetocaloric performance of carbon doped materials.