Magnetocaloric Properties of AlFe2B2 Including Paramagnetic Impurities of Al13Fe4

$AlFe_2B_2$ produced by using a conventional arc melter has a ferromagnetic material with a Curie temperature ($T_C$) of around 300 K, but the arc-melt generates paramagnetic $Al_{13}Fe_4$ impurities during the synthesis of $AlFe_2B_2$. Impurities are brought to cause a decrease in magnetocaloric effects (MCEs). To investigate the effects of $Al_{13}Fe_4$ impurities on MCEs, we prepared and compared ascast and acid-treated samples, where the acid treatment was performed to remove the $Al_{13}Fe_4$ impurities. For the structural analysis, powder X-ray diffraction was carried out, and the measured data were subjected to a Rietveld refinement. The presence of $Al_{13}Fe_4$ impurities in the as-cast sample was observed in the phase analysis measurements. Magnetic properties were investigated by using Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) measurements for the as-cast and the acid-treated $AlFe_2B_2$ samples. From isothermal magnetization measurements, Arrott plots were obtained showing that the transition of $AlFe_2B_2$ has a second-order magnetic phase transition (SOMT). The $T_C$ and the saturation magnetization increased for the acid-treated sample due to removal of the paramagnetic impurities. As a consequence, the magnetic entropy change ($-{\Delta}S$) increased in the pure $AlFe_2B_2$ samples, but the full width at half maximum in the plot of $-{\Delta}S$ vs. T decreased due to the absence of impurities.