Enhanced reversibility of the magnetoelastic transition in (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) alloys via minimizing the transition-induced elastic strain energy

Title

Enhanced reversibility of the magnetoelastic transition in (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) alloys via minimizing the transition-induced elastic strain energy

 Author

Miao, Xuefei (Nanjing University of Science and Technology)
Gong, Yong (Nanjing University of Science and Technology)
Zhang, F. (TU Delft RST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energy) ORCID 0000-0001-9595-1797
You, Yurong (Nanjing University of Science and Technology)
Caron, Luana (Bielefeld University; Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin)
Qian, Fengjiao (Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics)
Xu, Feng (Nanjing University of Science and Technology)
van Dijk, N.H. (TU Delft RST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energy) ORCID 0000-0002-2506-2852
Brück, E.H. (TU Delft RST/Fundamental Aspects of Materials and Energy) ORCID 0000-0002-5063-3338

 Date

2022

 Abstract

Magnetocaloric materials undergoing reversible phase transitions are highly desirable for magnetic refrigeration applications. (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) alloys exhibit a giant magnetocaloric effect accompanied by a magnetoelastic transition, while the noticeable irreversibility causes drastic degradation of the magnetocaloric properties during consecutive cooling cycles. In the present work, we performed a comprehensive study on the magnetoelastic transition of the (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) alloys by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, in situ field- and temperature-dependent neutron powder diffraction as well as density functional theory calculations (DFT). We found a generalized relationship between the thermal hysteresis and the transition-induced elastic strain energy for the (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) family. The thermal hysteresis was greatly reduced from 11 to 1 K by a mere 4 at.% substitution of Fe by Mo in the Mn1.15Fe0.80P0.45Si0.55 alloy. This reduction is found to be due to a strong reduction in the transition-induced elastic strain energy. The significantly enhanced reversibility of the magnetoelastic transition leads to a remarkable improvement of the reversible magnetocaloric properties, compared to the parent alloy. Based on the DFT calculations and the neutron diffraction experiments, we also elucidated the underlying mechanism of the tunable transition temperature for the (Mn,Fe)2(P,Si) family, which can essentially be attributed to the strong competition between the covalent bonding and the ferromagnetic exchange coupling. The present work provides not only a new strategy to improve the reversibility of a first-order magnetic transition but also essential insight into the electron-spin-lattice coupling in giant magnetocaloric materials.


 Subject

(Mn,Fe)(P,Si)
Hysteresis
Magnetocaloric effect
Neutron diffraction

 To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2130dab1-4112-491a-8cf9-ef5c72cbb9a6

 DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmst.2021.05.087

 Embargo date

2023-07-01

 ISSN

1005-0302

 Source

Journal of Materials Science & Technology: an international journal in the field of materials science, 103, 165-176

 Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

 Part of collection

Institutional Repository

 Document type

journal article

 Rights

© 2022 Xuefei Miao, Yong Gong, F. Zhang, Yurong You, Luana Caron, Fengjiao Qian, Feng Xu, N.H. van Dijk, E.H. Brück, More Authors
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