A multicaloric material as a link between electrocaloric and magnetocaloric refrigeration

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a polycrystalline multicaloric material exhibiting both electrocaloric and magnetocaloric effects over a broad temperature range, enabling potential multicaloric refrigeration applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel multicaloric material that shows coupled electrocaloric and magnetocaloric effects, expanding the possibilities for solid-state cooling technologies.

Findings

Maximum magnetocaloric temperature change of ~0.26 K at 5 K with 70 kOe

Maximum electrocaloric temperature change of ~0.25 K at 180 K with 60 kV/cm

Material enables multicaloric cooling modes depending on external field and temperature

Abstract

The existence and feasibility of the multicaloric, polycrystalline material 0.8Pb(Fe1/2Nb1/2)O3-0.2Pb(Mg1/2W1/2)O3, exhibiting magnetocaloric and electrocaloric properties, are demonstrated. Both the electrocaloric and magnetocaloric effects are observed over a broad temperature range below room temperature. The maximum magnetocaloric temperature change of ~0.26 K is obtained with a magnetic-field amplitude of 70 kOe at a temperature of 5 K, while the maximum electrocaloric temperature change of ~0.25 K is obtained with an electric-field amplitude of 60 kV/cm at a temperature of 180 K. The material allows a multicaloric cooling mode or a separate caloric-modes operation depending on the origin of the external field and the temperature at which the field is applied.