Magnetocaloric effect in La0.5Pr0.5Fe11.5Si1.5 compounds with a combined addition of Co and C

Abstract

The influence of a combined addition of Co and C on the magnetocaloric effect in the La0.5Pr0.5Fe11.5Si1.5 compound is investigated. The addition of Co and C can adjust Curie temperature (TC) to around room temperature. Although the magnetic entropy change (ΔSM) of La0.5Pr0.5Fe11.5−xCoxSi1.5C0.2 decreases with the increase of x, the maximum hysteresis loss at TC reduces remarkably from 23.6 J/kg for x = 0 to close to zero for x = 0.2. For x = 0.8, the maximum value of ΔSM is −11.6 J/kg K with an RC value of 386 J/kg around TC = 295 K for a magnetic field change of 0-5 T. Our result reveals that a large ΔSM and a small hysteresis loss can be simultaneously achieved in NaZn13-type LaPrFeSi compounds with a combined addition of Co and C.