Unusual effects of manual grinding and subsequent annealing process observed in Gd5.09Ge2.03Si1.88 compound

The Gd5.09Ge2.03Si1.88 compound, as well as other magnetocaloric materials, certainly will not be used in their un-manufactured as-cast condition in future magnetic refrigeration applications or other devices. In this work, we have studied the Gd5.09Ge2.03Si1.88 compound processed in different ways, mainly, the as-cast powder, the annealed powder and the pressed and sintered powder. The annealed powder (1370 K / 20 hours) does not present the monoclinic phase and the first-order-magneto-structural transition observed in the as-cast powder. The pressed and sintered powder also do not present the first-order transition. Furthermore, the compacting pressure shifts the second-order-magnetic transition to lower temperatures. The behavior of cell parameters as a function of the compacting pressure indicates that TC is directly affected by parameter c change.