Tunable magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of scandium doped Gd3Fe5-xScxO12 garnet compound

This paper presents the tunable magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Scandium-doped gadolinium iron garnets,Gd3Fe5-xScxO12 (x = 0.0 to 0.25) compounds prepared by a facile auto-combustion method. The sample analyzed has a dominant cubic crystal structure (space group: Ia (3) over bar d)) with a small fraction of an orthorhombic secondary phase, as determined by Rietveld analysis of X-ray diffraction patterns. The structural, magnetic, Mossbauer spectroscopy and first-principles density functional theory (DFT) studies show a preferential substitution of Sc3+ at the octahedral site of Fe3+ ions. The ferrimagnetic (FIM) transition is present in all samples, with the transition temperature decreasing from 560 K for x = 0.0 to 521 K for x = 0.25. The Sc3+ doped Gd3Fe5-xScxO12 exhibits an improved magnetocaloric effect (MCE) with a maximum magnetic entropy change ( -Delta S-M(max)) 3.82 J kg(-1)K(-1), and a higher relative cooling power (RCP) value of 408 J kg(-1), which is similar to 7 % higher than the Gd3Fe5O12 (380 J kg(-1)) sample. These findings suggest that by incorporating Sc3+, the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Gd3Fe5-xScxO12 can be tailored for potential applications in low-temperature magnetic refrigeration.

Automated summary

This paper presents the tunable magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Scandium-doped gadolinium iron garnets, Gd3Fe5-xScxO12 (x = 0.0 to 0.25) compounds. The addition of Sc3+ ions enhances the magnetocaloric effect and relative cooling power, making the doped material a potential candidate for low-temperature magnetic refrigeration applications.