Magnetocaloric effect and size-effect related thermal hysteresis reduction in MnAs1-xPx compounds

In MnAs(1-x)P(x) compounds (x = 0.006 and 0.01), prepared by mechanical alloying, the thermal hysteresis is greatly reduced from about 10-30K in MnAs-based compounds, prepared by conventional melting, to 2K for x = 0.01 (or 4K for x = 0.006). Such obvious hysteretic reduction is ascribed to the grain-size effect, largely due to the preparation method of mechanical alloying. Meanwhile, a maximum value of the magnetic-entropy change Delta S(M) of 11.3 J/kgK for a field change of 2 T is obtained at 294.5K for MnAs(0.994)P(0.006). The study on the MnAs(1-x)P(x) system and also the effect of the preparation technology may be beneficial for the realization of magnetic refrigerants for application at room temperature. (C) 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim