Formability, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of the Ce-substituted Fe87Pr10B3 metallic glass ribbons

Abstract

The effects of Ce atom substitution for Pr atoms on the glass forming ability (GFA), magnetic and magnetocaloric performances of the ternary Fe87Pr10B3 amorphous alloy (AA) were studied in the present work. It was found that the GFA of the Fe87Pr10−xB3Cex (x = 2, 4, 6) AAs increases with the Ce concentration and reaches a maximum when x = 4. The Curie temperature (Tc), magnetic hysteresis at 10 K, saturation magnetization, and magnetic entropy change peak (−ΔSmpeak) of the Fe87Pr10−xB3Cex (x = 2, 4, 6) AAs gradually decrease with the increasing Ce content. The mechanism for the changes in these magnetic parameters was studied through theoretical calculations. The almost highest −ΔSmpeak of the Fe87Pr10−xB3Cex AAs near their respective Tc make it possible to construct an amorphous composite with flattened −ΔSm profile and high average −ΔSm. The amorphous composite exhibits greater perspectives as high-efficiency refrigerants in a residential magnetic refrigerator.