Development of a new magnetocaloric material used in a magnetic refrigeration device

¹ Laboratoire CRISMAT, UMR 6508, CNRS, ENSICAEN, 6 B d du M al Juin, F-14050 Caen 4, France
² Grenoble Electrical Engineering Laboratory- G2Elab, Grenoble INP – UJF Grenoble 1- CNRS UMR 5269, BP 46, F-38402 S t -Martin d’Hères, France
³ Néel Institute, CNRS, UJF Grenoble INP, UPR 2940, BP 166, F- 38042 Grenoble 9, France

^a e-mail: vincent.hardy@ensicaen.fr

Abstract

Testing directly a magnetocaloric material in a magnetic refrigeration (MR) system is the best way to judge of its applicative potentialities. In this spirit, an oxide expected to show promising magnetocaloric properties around room temperature (Pr_0.65Sr_0.35MnO₃) was produced in large scale and shaped in order to build a regenerator. Magnetization, heat capacity, resistivity, thermal conductivity and a direct test in a MR device were carried out on this manganite. The results were compared to those observed in the reference material which is Gadolinium. The two main conclusions of these preliminary results are: (i) the Pr_0.65Sr_0.35MnO₃ actually displays not only a significant magnetocaloric effect but also a real refrigeration capability at room temperature; (ii) the temperature spans reached in these first experiments are even found to well compare with those obtained with Gd.