A sample of magnetocaloric material with nominal composition La(Fe0.851Co0.066Si0.083)13 is shown to present
a ferromagnetic-to-paramagnetic transition with a Curie temperature of TC = 278.7 K. Isothermal
magnetization curves were used to determine the volumetric magnetic entropy change, ΔSM(mJ/cm3K). The
values thus found are compared to those of Gd and found to be almost twice as large for a given field.
Hysteresis curves and thermomagnetic data show that a slight thermal hysteresis of 2 K is present, while no
magnetic hysteresis exists in this material. Therefore, we show that several of the disadvantages previously
associated with NaZn13-structured materials are not present in La(Fe,Co,Si)13 materials produced by powder
metallurgy.