Effect of Sc Addition on Magnetocaloric Properties of GdTbDyHo High-Entropy Alloys

The magnetocaloric properties of as-cast (GdTbDyHo)(100-x)Sc-x (x = 0-0.5 at%) high-entropy alloys (HEAs) have been studied via microalloying strategy. The results show that microalloying of Sc can effectively enhance the working temperature range and the refrigeration capacity of the base HEA-GdTbDyHo. In particular, with addition of only 0.3 at% Sc, the working temperature range can be elevated up to 108 K under an applied magnetic field of 5 T. This, in turn, results in a remarkable refrigeration capacity as high as 802 J kg(-1), which is 30% larger than that of GdTbDyHo HEA. This work shows that microalloying of Sc can be used as an effective way to improve the magnetocaloric performance of rare-earth HEAs.