Calculation model on magnetocaloric effect (MCE) and relative cooling power (RCP) in composite materials at room temperature

•Refrigerant capacity (RC) was changed by relative cooling power (RCP).•Our work was compared in detail with other recent works in the same field.•All non-relevant references were removed and new references were added and linked correctly to the core text. In this paper, a calculation model is proposed to measure magnetocaloric effect (MCE) and relative cooling power (RCP) in composites based on magnetic materials underscoring a giant MCE at room temperature. The two composite materials targeted are Gd-Gd5Si2Ge2 and MnAs-Mn1+δAs0.9Sb0.1 due to their high magnetic entropy change ΔSM over 270–300 K and 280–320 K. Our selected composites could give a larger RCP value among existing magnetocaloric materials for magnetic refrigeration in the temperature range of 280–300 K which is desirable for ideal Ericsson-cycle magnetic refrigeration. The excellent magnetocaloric properties of these two magnetic composites make them attractive for active magnetic refrigeration at room temperature.