Magneto-caloric effect in the pseudo-binary intermetallic YPrFe17 compound

Highlights: ► YPrFe17 exhibits a broad ΔSM(T) associated with the ferro-to-paramagnetic phase transition (TC ≈ 290 K). ► We obtain |ΔSM| ≈2.3 J kg−1 K−1 and RCP≈100 J kg−1for a magnetic field change of 1.5 T. ► A single master curve for ΔSM is found when compared with other isostructural R2Fe17 binary alloys. - Abstract: We have synthesized the intermetallic YPrFe17 compound by arc-melting. X-ray and neutron powder diffraction show that the crystal structure is rhombohedral with R3¯m space group (Th2Zn17-type). The investigated compound exhibits a broad isothermal magnetic entropy change ΔSM(T) associated with the ferro-to-paramagnetic phase transition (TC ≈ 290 K). The |ΔSM| (≈2.3 J kg−1 K−1) and the relative cooling power (≈100 J kg−1) have been calculated for applied magnetic field changes up to 1.5 T. A single master curve for ΔSM under different values of the magnetic field change can be obtained by a rescaling of the temperature axis. The results are compared and discussed in terms of the magneto-caloric effect in the isostructural R2Fe17 (R = Y, Pr and Nd) binary intermetallic alloys.