Table-like magnetocaloric effect around room temperature of antiperovskite composite materials based on Mn3Sn1-xGaxC

Abstract

The Mn3Sn1-xGaxC materials based on Mn3SnC with Sn partially replaced by Ga were prepared and their phase transitions were studied. With increasing Ga content, the Curie temperatures (Tc) of Mn3Sn1-xGaxC gradually decrease, but the large phase transition entropy (ΔS) is retained. Antiperovskite composite magnetic refrigerant was designed and synthesized by mixing the Mn3Sn1-xGaxC materials with different phase transition temperatures. The composite presents a nearly table-like magnetic entropy change (-ΔSM)-T curve near room temperature. Compared with Mn3SnC, the full width at half maximum (ΔTFWHM) of (-ΔSM)-T curves of the composite increased from 5 K to 44 K, and the refrigerant capacity (RCP) increased from 27.1 J/kg to 58.67 J/kg at 5 Tesla (T). This composite material is beneficial to magnetic Ericsson cycle, providing a new method for developing practical magnetic refrigerants in antiperovskite compounds.