Effects of carbon doping on structure and magnetocaloric properties of Mn1.25Fe0.7P0.5Si0.5 alloys
Abstract (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si)-basedmaterials are promisingly applied in the room-temperature magnetic refrigeration field. In this study, Mn1.25Fe0.7P0.5Si0.5Cx (x = 0, 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05) alloys were prepared by arc-melting and then a two-stage sintering process. The effects of C doping on the crystal structure and magnetocaloric behavior are discussed. Results indicate that the Fe2P-type structure (space group of P62 m) was crystallized for all samples with weakened first-order magnetic transitions (FOMT). The Curie temperature could be altered from 223.5 K to 278.5 K with the large magnetocaloric effect (MCE) remaining by C doping. In the applied magnetic field of 5 T, the peak value of magnetic entropy change (–ΔS M) increased by 7.3% to reach 25.1 J × kg–1 × K–1. The temperature-induced entropy change (ΔS DSC) derived from DSC was slightly larger than ΔS M induced by the magnetic field. The Mn1.25Fe0.7P0.5Si0.5 alloys with large MCE can be effectively tuned by C doping because C atoms prefered to share the substitute and occupy the interstitial sites in hexagonal Fe2P-type structure.