Magnetocaloric effect of new spherical magnetic refrigerant particles of La(Fe1−x−yCoxSiy)13 compounds

Abstract Magnetocaloric effects and magnetic properties of intermetallic compounds La(Fe 1− x − y Co x Si y ) 13 with a cubic NaZn 13 -type structure have been investigated. By substituting Co for Fe or Si at Zn-site of La(Fe,Si) 13 , the value of Curie temperature T C increases with increasing Co content in all La(Fe 1− x − y Co x Si y ) 13 systems (0 x ⩽0.10, 0.05 y ⩽0.12). A diagram of composition dependence of T C in La(Fe 1− x − y Co x Si y ) 13 compounds (0⩽ x ⩽0.10, 0.05 y ⩽0.12) was obtained. Moreover, we first succeeded in preparing spherical particles of La(Fe,Co,Si) 13 compound by using the rotating electrode process. The spherical particle of La(Fe 0.88 Co 0.055 Si 0.065 ) 13 exhibits a characteristic behavior of the itinerant–electron metamagnetic transition, and shows large magnetocaloric effects near room temperature, which is two times larger than that of conventional magnetic refrigerant Gd.