Microstructure evolution and large magnetocaloric effect of La0.8Ce0.2(Fe0.95Co0.05)11.8Si1.2 alloy prepared by strip-casting and annealing

oleh: X. C. Zhong, X. L. Feng, J. H. Huang, H. Zhang, Y. L. Huang, Z. W. Liu, D. L. Jiao

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: AIP Publishing LLC 2018-04-01

Deskripsi

The microstructure and magnetocaloric effect of the La0.8Ce0.2(Fe0.95Co0.05)11.8Si1.2 strip-cast flakes annealed between 1273K and 1423K for different time have been investigated. For the flakes annealed for 2h from 1273K to 1423K, the shape and distribution of α-Fe, La-rich and NaZn13-type 1:13 phases are quite sensitive to the annealing temperature. Especially, at a high annealing temperature of 1423K, the 1:13 phase began to decompose into macroscopic α-Fe conglomerations and La-rich dendrites. With the increase of annealing time from 0 to 12h at 1323K, the amount of 1:13 phase increased significantly and reached ∼93.50 wt.% at 12h. However, an overlong annealing time also led to 1:13 phase decomposition and influenced the magnetic performance. For the flakes annealed at 1323K for 12h, large magnetic entropy change value of 18.12Jkg-1K-1 at 5T has been obtained. The present results indicate that strip casting method can potentially be used in mass production of high performance magnetocaloric materials.