Ni–Gd–Al metallic glasses with large magnetocaloric effect

Novel Ni–Gd–Al glassy alloys with large magnetocaloric effect (MCE) were prepared by melt spinning technology. Under the magnetic field of 5 T, the magnetic entropy changes of 11.92 J kg−1 K−1 and 10.16 J kg−1 K−1 have been measured for Ni45Gd40Al15 and Ni32Gd46Al22 metallic glasses, which are comparable with or even higher than those of previously reported metallic glasses under the same magnetic field. These two glassy alloys exhibit broad full width at half maximum of the entropy change peak due to the nature of glassy structure, resulting in the refrigeration capacities values of 667.5 J kg−1 and 762 J kg−1. The large MCE combined with other unique properties of metallic glasses makes the Ni–Gd–Al glassy alloys promising candidates of magnetocaloric materials in the temperature of 5–100 K.