Enhancing magnetocaloric material discovery: A machine learning approach using an autogenerated database by large language models

Abstract

Magnetic cooling based on the magnetocaloric effect is a promising solid-state refrigeration technology for a wide range of applications in different temperature ranges. Previous studies have mostly focused on near room temperature (300 K) and cryogenic temperature (<10 K) ranges, while important applications such as hydrogen liquefaction call for efficient magnetic refrigerants for the intermediate temperature range of 10–100 K. For efficient use in this range, new magnetocaloric materials with matching Curie temperatures need to be discovered, while conventional experimental approaches are typically time-consuming and expensive. Here, we report a computational material discovery pipeline based on a materials database containing more than 6000 entries auto-generated by extracting reported material properties from the literature using a large language model. We then use this database to train a machine learning model that can efficiently predict the magnetocaloric properties of materials based on their chemical composition. We further verify the magnetocaloric properties of the predicted compounds using ab initio atomistic spin dynamics simulations to complete the computational material discovery. Using this approach, we identify 11 new promising magnetocaloric materials for the target temperature range. Our work demonstrates the potential of combining large language models, machine learning, and ab initio simulations to efficiently discover new functional materials.