Enhancing elastocaloric performance: Ti-doped Co–V-Ga bulk polycrystalline alloys with minimal stress hysteresis

Currently, practical applications of shape memory alloy (SMA) solid elastocaloric refrigeration materials are limited by low elastocaloric effect (eCE), high applied stress, and large stress hysteresis (Δσhys). Here, we introduce a composition design strategy using Ti-doped Co–V-Ga SMAs to address these challenges. We combine first-principles calculations and experiments to verify this strategy. Our results show that the lattice distortion caused by the significant difference in atomic radius after Ti doping produces a solid solution strengthening effect inside the alloy, which significantly improves the superelasticity of the alloy, delays the plastic deformation of the austenite phase, and the volume fraction of martensitic transformation increases significantly. The newly developed Co51.7V31.3Ga16Ti1 bulk polycrystalline alloy exhibits a remarkable adiabatic temperature change (ΔTad) of −10 K at room temperature under a low stress of 400 MPa, a minimum Δσhys of 18 MPa, and a high coefficient of performance COPmat of 31.9. Importantly, the 100-cycle loading-unloading test at 350 MPa is done, and it reveals that the ΔTad for the Ti0 alloy was only 3.9 K, while it reached 6.2 K for the Ti1 alloy, marking a noteworthy 59 % performance enhancement. From the simplicity of the fabrication process to the comprehensive performance of the material, it exhibits a promising advantage for practical cooling applications This study presents a feasible design strategy for large-scale production of high-performance bulk polycrystalline alloys with high eCE, low stress, and Δσhys.