The Structure and Magnetocaloric Effect of MnCoGe Alloy Modified by Nb

The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of partial substitution of Mn by Nb on structure and thermomagnetic properties in the (Mn, Nb)-Co-Ge alloy. The master alloys were prepared by arc-melting in an arc furnace with high purity of constituent elements under a low pressure of Ar. The prepared specimens were studied in as-cast state. The X-ray was performed by BRUKER D8 Advance diffractrometer with Cu Kα radiation. The analysis of the XRD pattern revealed coexistence of two orthorhombic phases with different lattice constants. The analysis of the temperature dependence of magnetizaton confirmed the XRD results and showed that produced material manifested two magnetic phase transitions corresponding to detected phases. The values of the Curie temperature were 275 and 325 K. The values of magnetic entropy change ∆SM equaled 3.30 and 2.13 J/(kg K), respectively for recognized phases. Biphase structure of produced material allowed to reach relatively high refigeration capacity 307 J/(kg). Moreover, the analysis of field dependences of magnetic entropy change (∆SM = CBn) allowed to construct temperature dependence of exponent n. The analysis of elaborated n vs. T curve confirmed biphasic structure of produced material.