Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect in Fe90-xSnxZr10 alloy ribbons

This work points out the possibility of tuning the magnetocaloric (MC) effect in Fe90-xSnxZr10 alloy ribbons in the temperature range from 235 to 315 K by changing the Sn-doping content (x). Under an applied field change from 0 to 50 kOe, the maximum magnetic-entropy changes around the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition are about 3.6, 4.1 and 3.3 J kg−1·K−1 for x = 0, 2 and 4, respectively, which correspond to relative cooling powers of 280 ∼ 410 J·kg−1. Studying the magnetic properties of the alloy ribbons based on Banerjee’s criteria and assessing the magneticordering parameter n = dLn|ΔSm|/dLnH (where ΔSm and H are the magnetic-entropy change and the magnetic field, respectively) reveals that the alloys undergo a second-order phase transition and exhibit a short-range ferromagnetic order. The nature of these phenomena is further analyzed by means of the results obtained from the analyses of the crystal structure, the Curie-Weiss law, and the Griffith phase.