Room temperature magnetocaloric effect in CrTe1−xSex alloys

Abstract

In this work, we report room temperature magnetocaloric properties in CrTe1−xSex (0.00 ≤ x ≤ 0.10) alloys prepared by a conventional solid-state reaction. The Rietveld refinement of the XRD pattern of CrTe1−xSex showed the emerging of pure hexagonal NiAs structure with P63/mmc (194) space group with increasing Se substitution. Upon μ0H = 5 T applied magnetic field, the magnetocaloric effect analysis revealed maximum magnetic entropy change $$(\Delta {S}_{M})$$ in the range 7.9–9.2 J/kg K−1 with a relative cooling power (RCP) value of about 550–694 J/kg. The RCP values exceed the corresponding RCP value of the prototype Gd element near room temperature. The obtained results suggest that CrTe1−xSex (0.00 ≤ x ≤ 0.10) alloys is a viable candidate for a room temperature magnetic cooling application.