Magnetocaloric effect in La1-xPrxFe10.7Co0.8Si1.5 compounds near room temperature

The magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects in NaZn13-type La1-xPrxFe10.7Co0.8Si1.5 compounds have been investigated. Partially replacing La with Pr leads to a small reduction in the Curie temperature TC due to the lattice contraction, but the values of TC for La1-xPrxFe10.7Co0.8Si1.5 are close to room temperature. The maximum values of magnetic entropy change ΔSm in La1-xPrxFe10.7Co0.8Si1.5 with x ≤ 0.5 are in the range 13.5-14.6 J kg-1 K-1 for a field change of 0-5 T, and correspondingly the values of the refrigerant capacity (RC) are 373-353 J kg-1. In particular, the values of ΔSm and RC for a low field change from 0 to 2 T are also obtained to be as high as 7.0-8.1 J kg-1 K-1 and 128-139 J kg-1, respectively. No magnetic hysteresis is observed in the magnetization as a function of both the temperature and the magnetic field in the La1-xPrxFe10.7Co0.8Si1.5 compounds. The large reversible ΔSm and the high reversible RC for a low field change indicate that La1-xPrxFe10.7Co0.8Si1.5 may be a promising candidate for magnetic refrigeration near room temperature.