Research Progress on the Magnetocaloric Effect of Mn-Fe-P-Si Alloys

The magnetic refrigeration as a potential alternative refrigeration technique to the conventional vapor-compression technique attracts much attention for its high energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. The magnetic refrigeration is based on the magnetocaloric effect of magnetocaloric materials which is the critical component of magnetic refrigerators. The application of the magnetic refrigerators depends on the performance of magnetocaloric materials. Among various magnetocaloric materials, Mn-Fe-P-Si alloys attract extensive attention and are considered as promising magnetic refrigerants near room temperature due to their giant magnetocaloric effect, low material cost and tunable magnetocaloric performance. Therefore, this research reviewed the recent research progresses on the magnetocaloric effect and performance modulation of Mn-Fe- P- Si alloys in order to provide a reference for the further research on the Mn-Fe-P-Si alloys as magnetic refrigerants.