Cryogenic temperature magnetocaloric effect and critical behavior of GdDyErAlM (M=Fe, Co, Ni) high entropy amorphous alloys

High entropy amorphous alloys (HE AMs) have attracted extensive interest lately due to their superior magnetocaloric properties. However, the critical behavior and mechanical properties have received less research, which restricts their applications. This work presented a comprehensive investigation of the magnetocaloric effect (MCE), critical behavior, and mechanical performance of quinary GdDyErAlM (M = Fe, Co, Ni) HE AMs. All samples exhibited distinct spin glass-like behavior below and competitive MCE around hydrogen liquefaction temperature range. Excellent MCE was achieved by the HE AMs through a second-order phase transition from paramagnetic state to ferromagnetic state at 79 K for Fe, 41 K for Co, and 36 K for Ni. Among them, the maximum magnetic entropy change (-Δ) of GdDyErAlCo amorphous alloys was 9.59 J kg K under 0–5 T. Furthermore, and of GdDyErAlFe amorphous alloys were respectively 519 J kg and 613 J kg, larger than that of most RE-based amorphous alloys. For all samples, the critical behavior of the phase transition approached the mean field model, and this responded to the long-range ordering of the magnetic interaction. The bending plasticity of GdDyErAlM (M = Fe, Co, Ni) HE AMs were 0.78, 1.03, 0.89, respectively. The adjustable , large (-Δ), high , and outstanding mechanical properties suggested GdDyErAlM (M = Fe, Co, Ni) HE AMs may find utility as magnetic refrigerants in low-temperature applications.