Tunable Curie temperature around room temperature and magnetocaloric effect in ternary Ce–Fe–B amorphous ribbons

Abstract

Ce13−xFe81+xB6 (x = 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2) amorphous magnets were prepared by melt-spinning method. These magnets are magnetically soft at low temperature, and undergo a second-order phase transition from ferromagnetic to paramagnetic state near room temperature with a broad temperature span. The phase-transition temperature is tunable by the variation of the Ce/Fe atomic ratio, which is mainly due to the change of the coordination number of Fe atoms in these ternary Ce–Fe–B amorphous magnets. Though the entropy change is low, the refrigeration capacities are in the ranges of 116–150 J kg−1 and 319–420 J kg−1, respectively, for the magnetic field changes of 0–2 T and 0–5 T, which is comparable with those of conventional magnetic materials for room-temperature refrigeration. Given the low cost of Fe and Ce, Ce–Fe–B amorphous magnets are attractive magnetic refrigerant candidates.