Room-temperature large refrigerant capacity of Gd6Co2Si3

The magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects of the Gd6Co2Si3 alloy are investigated. Gd6Co2Si3 undergoes a reversible second-order magnetic transition with a Curie temperature at room temperature (T-C=295 K). A broad distribution of the magnetic entropy change Delta S-m peak is observed, and the full width at half maximum of the Delta S-m peak is found to be about 111 K under a magnetic field of 5 T. The large value of the refrigerant capacity (RC) is found to be comparable with those of pure Gd, which have maximal RC values for all the magnetocaloric materials reported previously. The maximal value of Delta S-m is 6.3 J/kg K for a field change of 0-5 T. Excellent magnetocaloric properties, especially considerable values of RC, indicate the applicability of Gd6Co2Si3 for magnetic refrigeration in the room-temperature range. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3243289]