Large magnetocaloric effect of GdNiAl2 compound

This paper presents the structure, magnetic properties, and magnetocaloric effect of the polycrystalline compound GdNiAl2. Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurement and Rietveld refinement revealed that GdNiAl2 alloy is CuMgAl2-type phase structure with about 1 wt% GdNi2Al3 secondary phase. Magnetic measurements suggest that the compound is ferromagnetic and undergoes a second-order phase transition near 28 K. The maximum value of magnetic entropy change reaches 16.0 J/kg K for an applied magnetic field change of 0-50 kOe and the relative cooling power was 6.4×102 J/kg. It is a promising candidate as a magnetocaloric material working near liquid hydrogen temperature (~20 K) exhibiting large relative cooling power.