Exploring Magnetic Elastocaloric Materials for Solid-State Cooling

Abstract

In the past decade, there has been an increased surge in the research on elastocaloric materials for solid-state refrigerators. The strong coupling between structure and magnetism inspires the discovery of new multi-field driven elastocaloric alloys. This work is devoted to magnetic shape memory alloys suitable for mechanical cooling applications. Some novel characteristics in magnetostructural transition materials other than conventional shape memory alloys are overviewed. From the physical and engineering points of view, we have put forward general strategies to maximize elastocaloric temperature change to increase performance reversibility and to improve mechanical properties. The barocaloric effect as a sister-cooling alternative is also discussed.

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