Magnetism and Large Magnetocaloric Effect in GdNiBC Compound.

The magnetic and magnetocaloric properties in GdNiBC compound have been investigated by magnetization and heat capacity measurements. The compound exhibits a paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition at TC\sim 15 K. A large reversible magnetocaloric effect has been observed and accompanied by a second-order magnetic phase transition at TC . The maximum magnetic entropy change ( -\Delta SM^{\mathrm {max}} ) and adiabatic temperature change ( \Delta T\mathrm {ad}^{\mathrm {max}} ) are 24.9 J/kg K and 13 K, for a magnetic field change of 0–7 T, respectively. The corresponding relative cooling power is 801 J/kg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]