Advanced Magnetocaloric Materials for Energy Conversion: Recent Progress, Opportunities, and Perspective

Solid-state caloric effects as intrinsic thermal responses to different physical external stimuli (magnetic-, uniaxial stress-, pressure-, and electric-fields) can achieve a higher energy efficiency compared with traditional gas compression techniques. Among these effects, magnetocaloric energy conversion is regarded as the best available...

Enhanced reversibility of the magnetoelastic transition in (Mn,Fe)₂(P,Si) alloys via minimizing the transition-induced elastic strain energy

Magnetocaloric materials undergoing reversible phase transitions are highly desirable for magnetic refrigeration applications. (Mn,Fe)₂(P,Si) alloys exhibit a giant magnetocaloric effect accompanied by a magnetoelastic transition, while the noticeable irreversibility causes drastic degradation of the magnetocaloric properties...

Switching the magnetostructural coupling in MnCoGe-based magnetocaloric materials

We performed neutron-diffraction experiments and density functional theory calculations to study the magnetostructural coupling in MnCoGeBx (x=0, 0.01, and 0.05) alloys. By varying the amount of boron addition, we are able to freely switch the magnetostructural coupling on and off in the MnCoGe alloys. It is found that the boron addition...

Ubiquitous first-order transitions and site-selective vanishing of the magnetic moment in giant magnetocaloric MnFeSiP alloys detected by Mn 55 NMR

We report on a study on a representative set of Fe₂P-based MnFePSi samples by means of ⁵⁵Mn NMR in both zero and applied magnetic field. The first-order nature of the magnetic transition is demonstrated by truncated order parameter curves with a large value of the local ordered moment at the Curie point, even at...

Combined effect of annealing temperature and vanadium substitution for mangetocaloric Mn_1.2-xV_xFe_0.75P_0.5Si_0.5 alloys

Approaching the border of the first order transition and second order transition is significant to optimize the giant magnetocaloric materials performance. The influence of vanadium substitution in the Mn_1.2-xV_xFe_0.75P_0.5Si_0.5 alloys is investigated for annealing temperatures of 1323,...

Reversible low-field magnetocaloric effect in Ni-Mn-In-based Heusler alloys

Ni-Mn-X (X = In, Sn, and Sb) based Heusler alloys show a strong potential for magnetic refrigeration owing to their large magnetocaloric effect (MCE) associated with first-order magnetostructural transition. However, the irreversibility of the MCE under low field change of 0–1 T directly hinders its application as an efficient magnetic coolant....

Effect of Carbon Doping on the Structure and Magnetic Phase Transition in (Mn,Fe₂(P,Si))

Given the potential applications of (Mn,Fe₂(P,Si))-based materials for room-temperature magnetic refrigeration, several research groups have carried out fundamental studies aimed at understanding the role of the magneto-elastic coupling in the first-order magnetic transition and further optimizing this system. Inspired by the...

Mixed magnetism in magnetocaloric materials with first-order and second-order magnetoelastic transitions

Temperature dependent high-resolution x-ray diffraction measurements were used to characterize the magneto-elastic ferromagnetic transition of (Fe,Mn)2(P,Si,B) compounds. Across the transition, apart from a change in lattice parameters across the transition, the internal coordinates of Mn and Fe also change. This intrinsic degree of freedom...

Kinetic-arrest-induced phase coexistence and metastability in (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si)

Neutron diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy, magnetometry, and in-field x-ray diffraction are employed to investigate the magnetoelastic phase transition in hexagonal (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) compounds. (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) compounds undergo for certain compositions a second-order paramagnetic (PM) to a spin-density-wave (SDW) phase transition before further...

Efficient Room-Temperature Cooling with Magnets

Magnetic cooling is a highly efficient refrigeration technique with the potential to replace the traditional vapor compression cycle. It is based on the magnetocaloric effect, which is associated with the temperature change of a material when placed in a magnetic field. We present experimental evidence for the origin of the giant entropy...

Short-range magnetic correlations and spin dynamics in the paramagnetic regime of (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si)

The spatial and temporal correlations of magnetic moments in the paramagnetic regime of (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) have been investigated by means of polarized neutron diffraction and muon-spin relaxation techniques. Short-range magnetic correlations are present at temperatures far above the ferromagnetic transition temperature (TC). This leads to...

Spin correlations in (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) magnetocaloric compounds above Curie temperature

The longitudinal-field muon-spin relaxation (LF-μSR) technique was employed to study the spin correlations in (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) compounds above the ferromagnetic transition temperature (TC). The (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) compound under study is found to show itinerant magnetism. The standard deviation of the magnetic field distribution of electronic origin...

Structural and magnetocaloric properties of (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) materials with added nitrogen

Amongst magnetic materials that exhibit a giant magnetocaloric effect near room temperature, the(Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) system is one of the most promising candidates for magnetic refrigeration. Although the(Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) materials hold many advantages, controlling the magnetic entropy changeDSm, theadiabatic temperature changeDTad, the thermal...