Magnetocaloric and hydrogen storage multi-functional properties of Eu4Ga8Ge16 compounds

We investigated the anisotropic magnetic, electrical transport, and heat capacity of Eu4Ga8Ge16 single crystals. Magnetization measurements with temperature and magnetic field revealed a complex behavior. Specifically, we observed anisotropic metamagnetic transitions at low magnetic field, and inverse hysteresis at high magnetic fields. These phenomena can be attributed to a Heisenberg ferromagnetic spin chain aligned along the a-axis. Additionally, this ferromagnetic behavior is interspersed with antiferromagnetic interactions between adjacent Heisenberg spin chains. We also noticed an anomalous increase in electrical resistivity at low temperature under magnetic fields, as well as different temperature-exponents of ρ(T) depending on crystal directions, which are attributed to the anisotropic scattering of carriers due to anisotropic magnetic interactions. We also evaluated the magnetocaloric effect and found a substantial magnetic entropy change than those of type-I Eu-based clathrates. The high entropy change (-ΔSM = 13.5 J kg−1 K−1) and adiabatic temperature difference (ΔTad = 7.8 K) near Néel temperature TN = 7.9 K reveal that the Heisenberg spin chain system might be advantageous for inducing a larger magnetic entropy change. Furthermore, we measured the hydrogen storage capacity of Eu4Ga8Ge16 as a multifunctional property because the zeolite-like cage structure can be a good candidate for hydrogen storage applications. Although the hydrogen storage capacity is considerably lower than that of the leading-edge materials, the hydrogen storage capacity can be improved further when we control the Eu-deficiency to place the hydrogen molecule at the cage site, because the hydrogen molecules reside at the (Ga,Ge) framework not in the cage site for fully occupied Eu atomic chain compounds. Hence, Eu4Ga8Ge16 emerges as a versatile substrate for engineering multifunctional energy materials, excelling in both low-temperature magnetocaloric effects and hydrogen storage potential.