Magnetocaloric effect in the (Mn,Fe)&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;(P,Si) system: From bulk to nano

Zhang, F.; Taake, Chris; Huang, B.; You, X.; Ojiyed, Hamutu; Shen, Q.; Dugulan, A.I.; Caron, Luana; van Dijk, N.H.; Brück, E.H.

doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2021.117532

Magnetocaloric effect in the (Mn,Fe)₂(P,Si) system

Title

Magnetocaloric effect in the (Mn,Fe)₂(P,Si) system: From bulk to nano

Author

Zhang, F. (TU Delft RST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energy)
Taake, Chris (Bielefeld University)
Huang, B. (TU Delft RST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energy)
You, X. (TU Delft RST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energy)
Ojiyed, Hamutu (External organisation)
Shen, Q. (TU Delft RST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energy)
Dugulan, A.I. (TU Delft RID/TS/Instrumenten groep)
Caron, Luana (Bielefeld University; Institute for Solar Fuels)
van Dijk, N.H. (TU Delft RST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energy)
Brück, E.H. (TU Delft RST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energy)

Date

2022

Abstract

In the field of nanoscale magnetocaloric materials, novel concepts like micro-refrigerators, thermal switches, microfluidic pumps, energy harvesting devices and biomedical applications have been proposed. However, reports on nanoscale (Mn,Fe)₂(P,Si)-based materials, which are one of the most promising bulk materials for solid-state magnetic refrigeration, are rare. In this study we have synthesized (Mn,Fe)₂(P,Si)-based nanoparticles, and systematically investigated the influence of crystallite size and microstructure on the giant magnetocaloric effect. The results show that the decreased saturation magnetization (M_s) is mainly attributed to the increased concentration of an atomically disordered shell, and with a decreased particle size, both the thermal hysteresis and T_c are reduced. In addition, we determined an optimal temperature window for annealing after synthesis of 300–600 °C and found that gaseous nitriding can enhance M_s from 120 to 148 Am²kg⁻¹ and the magnetic entropy change (ΔS_m) from 0.8 to 1.2 Jkg⁻¹K⁻¹ in a field change of Δμ₀H = 1 T. This improvement can be attributed to the synergetic effect of annealing and nitration, which effectively removes part of the defects inside the particles. The produced superparamagnetic particles have been probed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, Mössbauer spectra and magnetic measurements. Our results provide important insight into the performance of giant magnetocaloric materials at the nanoscale.