Magnetocaloric effect in CoEr2 intermetallic compound

Magnetic refrigeration based on the magnetocaloric effect has attracted much attention due to its high energy-efficiency, compactness and environmental benignness. Many research activities were devoted to explore a range of potential magnetic materials with large magnetocaloric effect. Here, we report a giant magnetocaloric effect in CoEr2 compound. Magnetic measurements show that the sample exhibits a second order magnetic transition with a TC of 16 K. At a magnetic field change of 5 T, large values of magnetic entropy change (−ΔSmax = 21 J kg−1 K−1) and relative cooling power (RCP = 526 J kg−1) below 16.5 K were observed. The CoEr2 compound with excellent magnetocaloric effect is expected to have effective applications in low temperature range.