Influence of minor addition of Cr on the magnetocaloric effect in Fe-based metallic ribbons

Abstract

Fe84-xCrxB10Zr5Gd1 (x = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8) ribbons were fabricated and their magnetocaloric effect was studied. The microstructure of the ribbons was found to change from crystalline to amorphous with the addition of Cr. The Curie temperature (TC) undergoes an almost linear reduction (from 410 K to 300 K) and the peak magnetic entropy change, |ΔSMSpeak| (measured under a field of 1.5 T), first increases to a maximum value (from 0.70 J/kg K to 0.91 J/kg K) and then decreases to 0.66 J/kg K with increasing Cr content. The results further show that Fe80Cr4B10Zr5Gd1 ribbon demonstrates good refrigerant capacity as large as 110 J/kg under a field of 1.5 T. With its TC being close to room temperature and having a good refrigerant capacity, the Fe-based amorphous ribbon is a potential magnetocaloric material, although further work is needed to further improve the refrigerant capacity for industrial applications.