Magnetocaloric effect in La _0.5Pr _0.5Fe _11.5Si _1.5 compounds with a combined addition of Co and C

The influence of a combined addition of Co and C on the magnetocaloric effect in the La _0.5Pr _0.5Fe _11.5Si _1.5 compound is investigated. The addition of Co and C can adjust Curie temperature (T _C) to around room temperature. Although the magnetic entropy change (δS _M) of La _0.5Pr _0.5Fe _11.5-xCo _xSi _1.5C _0.2 decreases with the increase of x, the maximum hysteresis loss at T _C reduces remarkably from 23.6 J/kg for x = 0 to close to zero for x = 0.2. For x = 0.8, the maximum value of δS _M is -11.6 J/kg K with an RC value of 386 J/kg around T _C 295 K for a magnetic field change of ₀-5 T. Our result reveals that a large δS _M and a small hysteresis loss can be simultaneously achieved in NaZn ₁₃-type LaPrFeSi compounds with a combined addition of Co and C.