Magnetic refrigeration material operating at a full temperature range required for hydrogen liquefaction

Abstract

Magnetic refrigeration (MR) is a key technique for hydrogen liquefaction. Although the MR has ideally higher performance than the conventional gas compression technique around the hydrogen liquefaction temperature, the lack of MR materials with high magnetic entropy change in a wide temperature range required for the hydrogen liquefaction is a bottle-neck for practical applications of MR cooling systems. Here, we show a series of materials with a giant magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in magnetic entropy change (-∆Sm > 0.2 J cm−3K−1) in the Er(Ho)Co2-based compounds, suitable for operation in the full temperature range required for hydrogen liquefaction (20-77 K). We also demonstrate that the giant MCE becomes reversible, enabling sustainable use of the MR materials, by eliminating the magneto-structural phase transition that leads to deterioration of the MCE. This discovery can lead to the application of Er(Ho)Co2-based alloys for the hydrogen liquefaction using MR cooling technology for the future green fuel society.

Magnetoelastic Coupling and Cryogenic Magnetocaloric Effect in Two-Site Disordered GdSrCoFeO6 Double Perovskite

“…Magnetic refrigeration (MR) was proposed in the late 1920s through thermodynamic studies and based on adiabatic demagnetization cooling at very low temperatures . Upon applying or removing an external magnetic field to a magnetic material, an isothermal change of magnetic entropy (Δ S M ) takes place, which is phenomenologically known as the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) .…”

Dissipation losses limiting first-order phase transition materials in cryogenic caloric cooling: A case study on all-d-metal Ni(-Co)-Mn-Ti Heusler alloys

“…The change of sign and irreversibility of Δ at low temperatures is not only interesting for the fundamental understanding of the intertwined intrinsic and extrinsic parameters determining the thermal response of caloric materials to an applied stimulus, but also raise an important question with respect to recently emerging research interest in the utilization of magnetocaloric materials for gas liquefaction at low temperatures [56,58]. Currently, one of the most prominent materials for such an application are RT 2 -based Laves phases, with T and R being transition metal (T) and critical rare-earth (R) elements, respectively.…”

“…On this basis, we analyze the responses of the magnetic, structural and electronic subsystems to the temperature-and field-induced martensitic transformation, showing an abnormally increased magnetic hysteresis width at temperatures near and below . Based on this, we reveal the detrimental effect of non-negligible hysteresis and associated dissipation losses of first-order phase transitions on the adiabatic temperature change, representing a crucial limitation for recently emerging research interest in caloric cooling applications at cryogenic temperatures, such as hydrogen liquefaction [56][57][58].…”

The Influence of Yb Doping and Sintering Conditions on the Magnetocaloric and Mechanical Properties of EuS

“…Magnetic refrigeration (MR) is a type of refrigeration technology that is based upon the magnetocaloric effect [ 1 ]. It has traditionally been researched for use in refrigeration at approximately room temperature [ 2 ]; however, current MR research has focused on an objective temperature of approximately 20 K using hydrogen liquefaction [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. Liquidizing hydrogen is an efficient method for the application of hydrogen fuel [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ].…”