In this paper, we study the effects of Pr substitution on the hydrogenating process and magnetocaloric properties of La_(1-x)Pr_xFe_(11.4)Si_(1.6)H_y hydrides. The powder x-ray diffraction patterns of the La_(1-x)Pr_xFe_(11.4)Si_(1.6) and its hydrides show that each of the alloys is crystallized into the single phase of cubic Na Zn_(13)-type structure. There are hydrogen-absorbing plateaus under 0.4938 MPa and 0.4882 MPa in the absorbing curves for the La_(0.8)Pr_(0.2)Fe_(11.4)Si_(1.6) and La_(0.6)Pr_(0.4)Fe_(11.4)Si_(1.6) compounds. The releasing processes lag behind the absorbing process, which is obviously different from the coincidence between absorbing and releasing curves of the La Fe_(11.4)Si_(1.6) compound. The remnant hydrogen content for La_(0.6)Pr_(0.4)Fe_(11.4)Si_(1.6) is significantly more than that for La_(0.8)Pr_(0.2)Fe_(11.4)Si_(1.6) after hydrogen desorption, indicating that more substitutions of Pr for La are beneficial to retaining more hydrogen atoms in the alloys. The values of maximum magnetic entropy change are 14.91 J/kg·K and 17.995 J/kg·K for La_(0.8)Pr_(0.2)Fe_(11.4)Si_(1.6)H_(0.13) and La_(0.6)Pr_(0.4)Fe_(11.4)Si_(1.6)H_(0.87),respectively.
Bulk Mn_(1.2)Fe_(0.8)P_(0.76)Ge_(0.24) alloy was prepared by mechanical milling and subsequent spark plasma sintering technique.Effect of annealing on the structure and magneto-caloric properties of the alloy was investigated.XRD results show that both sintered and annealed samples possess a hexagonal Fe_2P-type crystal structure.After annealing,ferromagnetic impurity Fe_3Mn_4Ge_6,which exists in the sintered sample,was eliminated from the alloy.Furthermore,the lattice constants a and c change noticeably,leading to a decrease in c/a ratio,while the cell volume almost remains invariable.As a result,the Curie temperature of the alloy increases from 253 K to 298 K,but the maximum magnetic entropy change decreases from 37.5 to 11.7 J·kg·K^(-1) for 2 T magnetic field change.On the other hand,the thermal hysteresis of M-T curves around T_C upon heating and cooling is 14 and 8 K for the as-sintered and the annealed sample,respectively,showing evident change.
Xu, Hang Yue, Ming Zhao, Chuan Zhang, Dongtao Zhang, Jiuxing
