Ultrahigh cyclability of a large elastocaloric effect in multiferroic phase-transforming materials

• Main Authors: Zhi Yang, Daoyong Cong, Yuan Yuan, Yuan Wu, Zhihua Nie, Runguang Li, Yandong Wang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2019-04-01
• Series: Materials Research Letters
• Subjects: Elastocaloric effect; martensitic transformation; magnetic shape memory alloy; solid-state refrigeration; grain boundary engineering
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21663831.2019.1566182

Multiferroic phase-transforming alloys demonstrate intriguing multicaloric effects, but they are intrinsically brittle and their elastocaloric effect shows poor cyclability, which remains a major challenge for exploiting more efficient multicaloric refrigeration. Here, by employing a novel strategy of strengthening grain boundary, the cyclability of elastocaloric effect in the prototype Ni-Mn-based multiferroic phase-transforming alloys is strikingly enhanced by two orders of magnitude. Ultrahigh cyclability of a large elastocaloric effect is achieved. This not only paves the way for exploiting multicaloric effects for more efficient cooling, but also provides a strategy for overcoming the cyclability issues in the ubiquitous brittle intermetallic phase-transforming materials.