In order to obtain “table-like” magnetocaloric effect (MCE), multiple-phase Gd56Ni15Al27Zr2 alloy was prepared by arc-melting followed by suck-casting method. Powder x-ray diffraction and calorimetric measurements reveal that the sample contains both glassy and crystalline phases. The fraction of the glassy phase is about 62%, estimated from the heat enthalpy of the crystallization. The crystalline phases, Gd2Al and GdNiAl further broadened the relatively wider magnetic entropy change (−ΔSM) peak of the amorphous phase, which resulted in the table-like MCE over a maximum temperature range of 52.5 K to 77.5 K. The plateau feature of the MCE was found to be nearly independent of the applied magnetic field from 3 T to 5 T. The maximum −ΔSMvalue of the MCE platforms is 6.0 J/kg K under applied magnetic field change of 5 T. Below 3 T, the field independence of the table-like feature disappears. The relatively large constant values of −ΔSM for the respective applied magnetic fields have promising applications in magnetic refrigeration using regenerative Ericsson cycle.
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This article is published as Agurgo Balfour, E., Z. Ma, H. Fu, R. L. Hadimani, D. C. Jiles, L. Wang, Y. Luo, and S. F. Wang. "Table-like magnetocaloric effect in Gd56Ni15Al27Zr2 alloy and its field independence feature." Journal of Applied Physics 118, no. 12 (2015): 123903. DOI: 10.1063/1.4931765. Posted with permission.