In this paper we present the results of an experimental investigation of the magnetocaloric properties of hydrogenated La(Fe-Mn-Si) 13 -H with Mn substituting Fe to finely tune the transition temperature. We measured the specific heat under magnetic field c p (H, T ) and the magnetic field induced isothermal entropy change ∆s(H, T ) of a series of compounds by direct Peltier calorimetry. Results show that increasing Mn from 0.06 to 0.46 reduces the transition temperature from 339 K to 270 K whilst the total entropy change due to a 1.5 T field is depressed from 18.7 Jkg −1 K −1 to 10.2 Jkg −1 K −1 and the thermal hysteresis similarly is reduced from 1.5 K to zero. In the paper we interpret the results in terms of a magnetic phase transition changing from the first to the second order with increasing Mn content and we discuss the value of the results for magnetic cooling applications.
In this paper we describe and test a setup for the characterization of the magnetocaloric effect around room temperature. The setup is a differential calorimeter able to measure both the specific heat c(p)(H,T) under constant magnetic field H and the isothermal entropy change induced by changing H, Δs(H,T), in the room temperature range. The setup uses miniaturized Peltier cells to measure the heat flux, with resolution of about 1 μW, and power Peltier cells to regulate the temperature in the range from 243 K (-30 °C) to 343 K (+70 °C). The kinetic effects due to the heat capacity of the measuring cells are taken into account by a simple model of the heat flux diffusion in the calorimetric cell. As measurement examples, we show the characterization of the magnetocaloric effect in magnetic materials with a second order transition [without latent heat and without hysteresis, as in the La(1)(Fe(1-x-y)Co(y)Si(x))(13) alloy with x=0.077 and y=0.079] and with a first order transitions (with latent heat and hysteresis as in Ni(50)Mn(36)Co(1)Sn(13)). As a result we compare the entropy change Δs(H,T) derived from (i) the integration of the specific heat c(p)(H,T) and (ii) the direct isothermal measurements, obtaining an excellent agreement.
We developed a calorimetric technique to measure the isothermal magnetocaloric entropy change. The method consists in the use of Peltier cells as heat flow sensor and heat pump at the same time. In this paper, we describe the setup, the constitutive equations of the Peltier cell as sensor and actuator, and the calibration procedure. The Peltier heat is used to keep the sample isothermal when magnetic field is changed. The temperature difference between the sample and the thermal reservoir is kept by a digital control within 5 mK for a magnetic field rate of 20 mT s(-1). The heat flux sensitivity around 1 microW. With this method, it is possible to measure the magnetocaloric effect in magnetic materials by tracing the curves of the exchanged entropy Delta(e)s as a function of the magnetic field H. The method proves to be, in particular, suitable to reveal the role of the entropy production Delta(i)s, which is connected with hysteresis. Measurement examples are shown for Gd, BaFe(12)O(19) ferrite, and Gd-Si-Ge.
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