Magnetocaloric effect of the multiphase Gd4−xTbxCo3 system

ABSTRACTCrystal structure, microstructural chemical analysis, magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect for ‘as cast’ and annealed Gd4−xTbxCo3 (x = 0–4) were investigated. Only Gd4Co3 was homogeneous and crystallised in the hexagonal Ho4Co3-type of crystal structure. Samples substituted with terbium proved to be a mixture of (Gd,Tb)12Co7 and (Gd,Tb)Co2 phases. With the increase of terbium content the entropy change increased and for the samples with x = 3, 4 reached the highest values. Even ‘as-cast’ samples exhibit pronounced values of the magnetocaloric parameters.