Grup de Caracterització de Materials, Departament de Física, EEBE, and Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Campus Diagonal-Besòs, Av. Eduard Maristany, 10-14, 08019 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Tapas Samanta
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA
María Barrio
Grup de Caracterització de Materials, Departament de Física, EEBE, and Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Campus Diagonal-Besòs, Av. Eduard Maristany, 10-14, 08019 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Igor Dubenko
Department of Physics, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois 62901, USA
Naushad Ali
Department of Physics, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois 62901, USA
Josep-Lluís Tamarit
Grup de Caracterització de Materials, Departament de Física, EEBE, and Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Campus Diagonal-Besòs, Av. Eduard Maristany, 10-14, 08019 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Shane Stadler
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA
MnNiSi-based alloys and isostructural systems have traditionally demonstrated impressive magnetocaloric properties near room temperature associated with a highly tunable first-order magnetostructural transition that involves large latent heat. However, these materials are limited by a small field-sensitivity of the transition, preventing significant reversible effects usable for cooling applications. Instead, the concomitant large transition volume changes prompt a high pressure-sensitivity, and therefore, promise substantial barocaloric performances, but they have been sparsely studied in these materials. Here, we study the barocaloric response in a series of composition-related (MnNiSi)1−x(FeCoGe)x (x = 0.39, 0.40, 0.41) alloys that span continuously over a wide temperature range around ambient. We report on giant reversible effects of ∼40 J K−1 kg−1 and up to ∼4 K upon application of ∼2 kbar and find a degradation of the first-order transition properties with pressure that limits the barocaloric effects at high pressures. Our results confirm the potential of this type of alloys for barocaloric applications, where multicaloric and composite possibilities, along with the high density and relatively high thermal conductivity, constructively add to the magnitude of the caloric effects.
