Modified La-Fe-Si magnetocaloric alloys

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2019272933-A1
Application number	US-201916501027-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 11, 2019
Priority date	Mar 5, 2018
Publication date	Sep 5, 2019
Grant date	—

Abstract

A magnetocaloric material comprising a La—Fe—Si based alloy composition that is compositionally modified to include a small but effective amount of at least one of Al, Ga, and In to improve mechanical stability of the alloy (substantially reduce alloy brittleness), improve thermal conductivity, and preserve comparable or provide improved magnetocaloric effects. The alloy composition may be further modified by inclusion of at least one of Co, Mn, Cr, and V as well as interstitial hydrogen.

First claim

We claim:

1 . A magnetocaloric alloy comprising a La—Fe—Si alloy including a small but effective amount of at least one of Al, Ga, and In to reduce alloy brittleness.

2 . A magnetocaloric alloy comprising a La—Fe—Si alloy including at least one of Al, Ga and In present in an amount of 0.07 atomic % to 3.5 atomic % of the alloy.

3 . The alloy of claim 2 wherein said at least one of Al, Ga, and In is/are substituted for the same amount of the Si of the alloy.

4 . The alloy of claim 2 also including at least one of Co, Mn, Cr, and V.

5 . The alloy of claim 4 wherein said at least one of Co, Mn, Cr, and V is/are substituted for some of the Fe of the alloy.

6 . The alloy of claim 1 including interstitial hydrogen.

7 . The alloy of claim 1 which is heat treated.

8 . The alloy of claim 1 which is rapidly solidified.

9 . A magnetocaloric alloy having one of the following compositions:
LaFe 13-z Si z-y X y , where X=Al, Ga, In with 1.1≤z≤1.9 and 0.01≤y≤0.5 La(Fe 1-w M w ) 13-z Si z-y X y , where X=Al, Ga, In, and M=Co, Mn, Cr, V with 0.05≤w≤0.1, and 1.1≤z≤1.9, and 0.01≤y≤0.5 LaFe 13-z Si z-y X y H v , where X=Al, Ga, In with 1.1≤z≤1.9, 0.01≤y≤0.5, 0<v≤2.3 La(Fe 1-w M w ) 13-z Si z-y X y H v , where X=Al, Ga, In, and M=Co, Mn, Cr, V with 0.05≤w≤0.1, and 1.1≤z≤1.9, and 0.01≤y≤0.5, and 0<v≤2.3

10 . The alloy of claim 9 exhibiting large magnetocaloric effect that is tunable between about 170K and about 350K.

11 . The alloy of claim 9 exhibiting increased thermal conductivity as compared to the parent La—Fe—Si alloy devoid of Al, Ga, and In.

12 . The alloy of claim 9 that has reduced brittleness as compared to the parent La—Fe—Si alloy devoid of Al, Ga, and In.

13 . The alloy of claim 9 that is machinable.

14 . A magnetic regenerator comprising the alloy of claim 1 .

15 . The regenerator of claim 14 which is in the form of particles or plates or packed spheres.

16 . The regenerator of claim 14 which comprises packed irregularly shaped particles.

17 . The regenerator of claim 14 comprising 3D-printed spherical particles comprising said alloy and/or 3D-printed irregularly shaped particles comprising said alloy.

18 . The regenerator of claim 14 which comprises parallel plates.

19 . A magnetic refrigerator using a regenerator made from material of claim 1 .

20 . A magnetic heat pump using a regenerator made from material of claim 1 .

Assignees

• Univ Iowa State Res Found Inc

Inventors

• Pathak Arjun K
• Mudryk Yaroslav
• Oleksandr Dolotko
• Pecharsky Vitalij K

Classifications

• C22C33/0257

  characterised by the range of the alloying elements · CPC title

• B22F2003/248

  Thermal after-treatment · CPC title

• B22F9/082

  atomising using a fluid (using centrifugal force B22F9/10) · CPC title

• B22F2201/013

  Hydrogen · CPC title

• B22F2999/00

  Aspects linked to processes or compositions used in powder metallurgy · CPC title