{Gd44Ni22}: a gigantic 3d–4f wheel-like nanoscale cluster with a large magnetocaloric effect

Abstract

Multinuclear 3d–4f nano-clusters, consisting of a large number of metal ions, are interesting both structurally and functionally. The Gd(III) containing clusters, in particular, attract great research attention because of their significant magnetocaloric effect. Here, we report the synthesis of a gigantic 3d–4f wheel-like cluster, {Gd₄₄Ni₂₂}, achieved through self-assembly using a “mixed-ligand” strategy. Magnetic characterization reveals that the {Gd₄₄Ni₂₂} cluster exhibits a large magnetocaloric effect (MCE), with an isothermal magnetic entropy change of 44.9 J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹ at 2.0 K for ΔH = 7 T, which is one of the largest among all of the high-nuclearity Ni–Gd clusters.