Magnetocaloric effect in Ce(Fe_0.975Cr_0.025)₂ compound

A solid-state refrigerator device has the potential to overcome the use of greenhouse effect-related gases or hazardous chemicals. Most of these devices work on the basis of magnetocaloric effect (MCE). Ce(Fe_0.975Cr_0.025)₂ is an engrossing material to study MCE originating from paramagnetic (PM)–ferromagnetic (FM; second-order) transition and FM–antiferromagnetic (first-order) transition. In the present work, the MCE of Ce(Fe_0.975Cr_0.025)₂ compound, prepared in Arc melting in an argon atmosphere, has been studied. Magnetic entropy change (∆_SM) and the relative cooling power have been calculated from the M–H curves to characterize the MCE. Direct and inverse MCE are found to be linked with two different magnetic transitions in this compound.