The effect of distributed exchange parameters on magnetocaloric refrigeration capacity in amorphous and nanocomposite materials J. Appl. Phys. 111, 07A334 (2012) Particle size dependent hysteresis loss in La0.7Ce0.3Fe11.6Si1.4C0.2 firstorder systems Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, 072403 (2012) Magnetocaloric effect and refrigerant capacity in 0.44, 0.46 The effect of pressure on the magnetic and the magnetocaloric ͑MC͒ properties around the martensitic transformation temperature in NiCoMnSb Heusler alloy has been studied. The martensitic transition temperature has significantly shifted to higher temperatures with pressure, whereas the trend is opposite with the application of applied magnetic field. The maximum magnetic entropy change around the martensitic transition temperature for Ni 45 Co 5 Mn 38 Sb 12 is 41.4 J/kg K at the ambient pressure, whereas it is 33 J/kg K at 8.5 kbar. We find that by adjusting the Co concentration and applying suitable pressure, NiCoMnSb system can be tuned to achieve giant MC effect spread over a large temperature span around the room temperature, thereby making it a potential magnetic refrigerant material for applications.

Structural, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Mn 2-x Cr x Sb compounds have been studied. In these compounds a first order magnetic phase transition from the ferrimagnetic to the antiferromagnetic state occurs with decreasing temperature, giving rise to giant inverse magnetocaloric effects that can be tuned over a wide temperature interval through changes in substitution concentration. Entropy changes as high as 7.5 J/kgK have been observed, and a composition independent entropy change is obtained for several different concentrations/working temperatures, making these compounds suitable candidates for a composite working material.

In this paper, the magnetocaloric effect in the hexagonal intermetallic compounds belonging to the RNi 5 series was calculated using a Hamiltonian including the crystalline electrical field, exchange interaction, and the Zeeman effect. Experimental work was performed and the two thermodynamics quantities, namely, isothermal entropy change and adiabatic temperature change were obtained for polycrystalline samples, using heat capacity measurements, and compared to the theoretical predictions.