Magnetocaloric effect in Er-Al-Co bulk metallic glasses

A series of Er-Al-Co bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) have been prepared by the copper mold casting method. The glass forming ability and magnetocaloric effect (MCE) for these alloys have been investigated. The second-order magnetic transition from para-magnetic to ferromagnetic states takes place at about 9 K. These BMGs exhibit excellent MCE because of their large effective magneton number; Er56Al24Co20 BMG has a maximum entropy change and refrigeration capacity of 16.06 J kg(-1) K-1 and 546 J kg(-1), respectively, under the field of 50 kOe (10 kOe=795.775 kA/m) indicating that these BMGs are potential candidate magnetic materials for hydrogen liquefaction.