Metamagnetic phase transformation and magnetocaloric effect in quinary Ni45Co5Mn40InxSn10-x heusler alloy

The structure, martensitic transformation, and magnetocaloric properties of quinary Ni45Co5Mn40InxSn10-x Heusler alloys have been investigated. The substitution of In for Sn was found to decrease in c/a parameter which enhances the martensite structure symmetry toward cubic phase and stabilize the martensitic phase. The martensitic transformation temperature was found to increase almost linearly, while Curie temperature of the austenitic phase decreases with increasing the In contents in the alloys. The doping of In keeps the low magnetization of martensitic phase and high magnetization of austenite phase, maintaining the strong metamagnetic behavior and magnetocaloric effect. The alloys exhibit large magnetic entropy change in the structure phase transition, meanwhile, the hysteresis loss is reduced by 74% with increasing the content of In to 8%, suggesting an effective way to reduce thermal hysteresis. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.