The magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects of the ErNi 1-x Cu x Al (x ¼ 0.2, 0.5, 0.8) compounds have been studied. The sample with x ¼ 0.2 is found to be antiferromagnetic below the N eel temperature of T N ¼ 4.6 K, while the sample x ¼ 0.5 is simply ferromagnetic with a Curie temperature of T C ¼ 5.8 K. In contrast, the sample x ¼ 0.8 exhibits a short-range magnetic order, as revealed by AC magnetic measurements, and the transition temperature is 5.5 K. Large magnetic entropy change (DS) without hysteresis losses has been observed around the transition temperature for all the samples. The DS displays a peak between 4 K and 10 K, and the maximal values of DS are-22.6,-25.9, and-24.8 J/kg K for the field changes of 0-5 T, corresponding to the compositions of x ¼ 0.2, x ¼ 0.5, and x ¼ 0.8, respectively. The large DS value as well as no hysteresis loss indicate that ErNi 1-x Cu x Al can be alternative candidates for magnetic refrigerant working at low temperature (<10 K). V
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