Large magnetocaloric effect in Er2O3 compounds at cryogenic temperature

We investigated the magnetocaloric effect in commercial Er2O3 powders which presents almost no hysteresis losses at low temperature. At a magnetic field change of 5 T, it displays large magnetic entropy change (-Delta S-M)(max) of 15.02 J/(kg.K) and a refrigerant capacity (RC) of 311 J/K at Neel temperature T-N = 3.32 K. The magnetic transition was found to be of a second-order. The maximum values of adiabatic temperature change (Delta T-ad)(max) reach 0.70 K for a magnetic field change of 1 T. The large value, of (-Delta S-M)(max) as well as no hysteresis loss, makes Er2O3 a promising material as a magnetic refrigerant at low temperature. (C) 2020 Chinese Society of Rare Earths. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.