Influence of thermal conductivity on the dynamic response of magnetocaloric materials

We compare the magnetocaloric effect of samples prepared with different thermal conductivities to investigate the potential of composite materials. By applying the magnetic field under operating conditions we test the material's response and compare this to heat transfer simulations in order to check the reliability of the adiabatic temperature change probe used. As a result of this study we highlight how the material's thermal conductivity influences Full-size image (<1 K), the time constant of temperature change. This parameter ultimately limits the maximum frequency of a refrigerant cycle and offers fundamental information about the correlation between thermal conductivity and the magnetocaloric effect.