Enhancement of the thermal conductivity of a near room temperature magnetocaloric composite using graphene-like hybrid nanosheets derived from organic waste

Polymer matrix composites, fabricated to counter the inherent brittleness of magnetocaloric Heusler alloys, suffer from low thermal conductivity. Here, we demonstrate a low-cost, scalable route towards developing thermally conductive, mechanically robust near-room-temperature magnetocaloric composites by incorporating graphene-like hybrid nanostructures chemically synthesized from discarded sugarcane. Micron-sized particles obtained by manually grinding Ni50.2Mn36.7Sn13 ribbons possessing a strong magnetostructural transformation near room-temperature were chosen as the active magnetocaloric fillers. Both the functional fillers were incorporated into a polysulfone matrix by solution casting. Large values of isothermal entropy change ∼ 0.43 and -0.46 J/kg.K were observed for a ΔH = 2T, driven by two successive first and second-order transformations within the alloy fillers. Additionally, an enhanced value of the in-plane thermal conductivity ∼ 3.06 ± 0.4 W/m.K was observed in the composites owing to the formation of efficient thermal bridges/pathways by the graphene-like hybrid nanostructures, rendering them promising candidates for magnetic refrigeration applications.