摘要:
                                Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects (MCEs) of the intermetallic Ho3Al2 compound are investigated by magnetization and heat capacity measurements. Two successive magnetic transitions, a spin-reorientation (SR) transition at T-SR=31 K followed by a ferromagnetic (FM) to paramagnetic (PM) transition at T-C=40 K, are observed. Both magnetic transitions contribute to the MCE and result in a large magnetic entropy change (Delta S-M) in a wide temperature range. The maximum values of -Delta S-M and adiabatic temperature change (Delta T-ad) reach 18.7 J/kg K and 4.8 K for the field changes of 0-5 T, respectively. In particular, a giant value of refrigerant capacity (RC) is estimated to be 704 J/kg for a field change of 5 T, which is much higher than those of many potential refrigerant materials with similar transition temperatures. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.