Thermal stability, magnetic properties and large refrigerant capacity of ternary Gd55Co35M10 (MÂ =Â Mn, Fe and Ni) amorphous alloys

Ribbon-shaped amorphous alloys with nominal compositions Gd55Co35M10 (M = Mn, Fe and Ni) have been successfully prepared and their thermal, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties were investigated. A large reduced glass transition temperature (Tg/Tm) (>0.60) are found in Gd55Co35M10 amorphous alloys. The relatively high Tx1/Tm and small Tm confirm the excellent glass forming ability of these alloys. The Curie temperatures (TCs) of the amorphous alloys Gd55Co35M10 with M = Mn, Fe and Ni are 197, 268 and 192 K, respectively. Under an applied field change of 2 T, the maximum values of magnetic entropy change (−ΔSM)max for Gd55Co35Mn10, Gd55Co35Fe10 and Gd55Co35Ni10 are 3.03, 1.72 and 3.37 J kg−1 K−1, while the values of refrigerant capacity (RC) are 224, 337 and 253 J kg−1, respectively. The large RC for Gd55Co35Fe10 is due to the broad (−ΔSM) peak (∼200 K), which is higher than that of the well-known crystalline Gd5Si2Ge2. Large RC and a considerable (−ΔSM) jointly make Gd55Co35M10 (M = Mn, Fe and Ni) amorphous alloys attractive candidates for magnetic refrigerant.