Thermal stability and magnetocaloric properties of GdDyAlCo bulk metallic glasses

Gd56−xDyxAl24Co20 (x = 16, 20 and 22) bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) alloys with a diameter of 2, 3 and 3 mm, respectively, were prepared by using copper mold casting. These alloys exhibit higher values of the glass transition temperature, crystallization temperature, and activation energy of the glass transition and crystallization, compared with those of other known rare-earth-based BMGs. A maximum magnetic entropy changes of 15.78 J/(kg K) is obtained in Gd40Dy16Al24Co20, which is the maximal among all the bulk metallic glasses, and is much larger than those of the known crystalline magnetic refrigerant compound Gd5Si2Ge1.9Fe0.1 and pure Gd metal. All the three BMG alloys have a broader temperature range of the entropy change peak, resulting in larger refrigerate capacities (RC) than those of conventional crystalline materials. The excellent magnetocaloric properties combining with high thermal stability make them an attractive candidate for magnetic refrigerants in the temperature range of 20–100 K.