Magnetic refrigeration materials

Magnetic refrigeration has drawn much attention because of its greater efficiency and higher reliability than the traditional gas-cycle refrigeration technology. Recently, a kind of new materials with a giant magnetocaloric effect in the subroom temperature range, Gd5 (Six Ge1- x)4, was discovered, which boosts the search for high-performance magnetic refrigerants. However, the intermetallic compounds Gd5 (SixGe1 - x )4 belong to the first order transition materials; their performance in practical magnetic refrigeration cycles remains controversial. In this paper the developing tendency of the refrigerants are discussed on the basis of our work.