Magnetocaloric effect of La(0.9)Ce(0.2)Fe(11-x)Co(x)Si(2.0) (x= 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8) compounds.

The magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect of these compounds were investigated. X-ray diffraction shows that the compounds crystallize in the NaZn13-type cubic structure. The lattice parameters have no clear changes, 11.447, 11.447, 11.433, 11.442 A for x= 0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8 respectively. The Curie temperature can be tuned from 207 to 288 K with increasing x. The maximal entropy change decreases from 5.6 to 2.94 J/kg.K for x= 0 and x= 0.8 in a field change from 0 to 1.5 T.