Magnetic entropy change in bulk nanocrystalline Gd metals

The magnetocaloric properties of the as-consolidated nanocrystalline and coarse-grained gadolinium metals were studied in the present work. With the decrease of Gd grains from micrometer to nanometer range, magnetic entropy change drops surprising from 10.07 to 4.47 J kg−1 K−1 at a magnetic-field change of 5 T, and their resultant magnetic entropy change uniformly peaks at 294, 290, and 288 K, respectively, corresponding to the magnetic transition temperature of the three samples. The Curie temperature TC of the nanocrystalline Gd shifts by more than 6 K below that of coarse-grained Gd sample. However, the values of magnetic entropy change of the nanocrystalline metals exhibit a more constant tendency compared with the coarse-grained sample. The Arrott plots indicate the second-order character of magnetic phase transition still in the nanocrystalline Gd metals. The refrigerant capacity calculated is also used to evaluate material refrigeration capacity. © 2011, The Author(s).