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Multicaloric effect in a multiferroic composite of Gd5(Si,Ge)4 microparticles embedded into a ferroelectric PVDF
V M Andrade1,2, A Amirov3,4, D Yusupov4
1IFIMUP and IN-Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Physics and Astronomy Department of Science Faculty, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 687, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal.
Abstract:
The coupling between electric, magnetic and elastic features in multiferroic materials is an emerging field in materials science, with important applications on alternative solid-state cooling technologies, energy harvesting and sensors/actuators. In this direction, we developed a thorough investigation of a multiferroic composite, comprising magnetocaloric/magnetostrictive Gd[Formula: see text]Si[Formula: see text]Ge[Formula: see text] microparticles blended into a piezo- and pyroelectric poly(vinylidene) fluoride (PVDF) matrix. Using a simple solvent casting technique, the formation and stabilization of PVDF electroactive phases are improved when the filler content increases from 2 to 12 weight fraction (wt.%). This effect greatly contributes to the magnetoelectric (ME) coupling, with the ME coefficient [Formula: see text] increasing from 0.3 V/cm.Oe to 2.2 V/cm.Oe, by increasing the amount of magnetic material. In addition, magnetic measurements revealed that the ME-coupling has influenced the magnetocaloric effect via a contribution from the electroactive polymer and hence leading to a multicaloric effect. These results contribute to the development of multifunctional systems for novel technologies.
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