Magnetocaloric response with significant mechanical efficiency in frustrated intermetallic compound Pr2Co0.86Si2.88

Magnetically frustrated materials are considered as a promising unconventional members of caloric materials. Here, the magnetocaloric properties of the frustrated Pr2Co0.86Si2.88 have been investigated and discussed with the aid of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The material exhibits a magnetic entropy change (−ΔSM) of 13.1 J/kg-K for ΔH = 70 kOe around low-temperature transition TL ∼ 4 K associated with the antiferromagnetic coupling between localized Pr-4f and itinerant Co-3d moments. Despite the absence of any long-range magnetic order, the obtained − ΔSM is one of the highest among the known Pr-based good magnetocaloric materials at cryogenic temperature range. It also exhibits a relative cooling power (RCP) of ∼ 201 J/kg and an adiabatic temperature change of 6.3 K around TL at 70 kOe. Moreover, the compound also exhibits a high mechanical efficiency and moderate electrical efficiency, being beneficial for possible technological applications.