Large magnetocaloric effect in fine Gd2O3 nanoparticles embedded in porous silica matrix

The magnetocaloric properties of a composite material consisting of isolated Gd2O3 nanoparticles with a diameter of 6–8 nm embedded in the pores of a mesoporous silica matrix have been studied. The fascinating nanostructure and composition were properly characterized by small angle X-ray scattering,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied physics letters 2016-09, Vol.109 (12)
Main Authors: Zeleňáková, A., Hrubovčák, P., Kapusta, O., Zeleňák, V., Franco, V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied physics
Composite materials
Cryogenic temperature
Cryomagnetic properties
Entropy
Gadolinium
Gadolinium oxide
Gadolinium oxides
Magnetic properties
Nanoparticles
Porous media
Refrigeration
Silica
Silicon dioxide
Small angle X ray scattering
X ray absorption
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The magnetocaloric properties of a composite material consisting of isolated Gd2O3 nanoparticles with a diameter of 6–8 nm embedded in the pores of a mesoporous silica matrix have been studied. The fascinating nanostructure and composition were properly characterized by small angle X-ray scattering, X-ray absorption near edge structure, and TEM. Almost ideal paramagnetic behavior of the material was observed in the temperature range of 1.8–300 K. When compared to various nanosystems, the presented composite exhibits an extraordinarily large magnetic entropy change of 40 J/kg K for a field variation of 0–5 T at cryogenic temperature (3 K). Considering only the mass of the Gd2O3 nanoparticle fraction, this corresponds to 120 J/kg K. Calculated refrigerant capacities are 100 J/kg and 400 J/kg for the composite and nanoparticles, respectively. Our findings suggest that the combination of the unique porous structure of amorphous silica with fine gadolinium oxide nanoparticles and high value of magnetic entropy change enables to extend the application of the Gd2O3@SiO2 composite, to cryomagnetic refrigeration. In addition, the characteristics of the thermomagnetic behavior have been studied using the scaling analysis of the magnetic entropy change.
ISSN:0003-6951
1077-3118
DOI:10.1063/1.4963267