Gadolinium(III)-hydroxy ladders trapped in succinate frameworks with optimized magnetocaloric effect.

Two kinds of inorganic gadolinium(III)-hydroxy "ladders", [2×n] and [3×n], were successfully trapped in succinate (suc) coordination polymers, [Gd2(OH)2(suc)2(H2O)]n·2nH2O (1) and [Gd6(OH)8(suc)5(H2O)2 ]n·4n H2O (2), respectively. Such coordination polymers could be regarded as alternating inorganic-organic hybrid materials with relatively high density. Magnetic and heat capacity studies reveal a large cryogenic magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in both compounds, namely (ΔH=70 kG) 42.8 J kg(-1) K(-1) for complex 1 and 48.0 J kg(-1) K(-1) for complex 2. The effect of the high density is evident, which gives very large volumetric MCEs up to 120 and 144 mJ cm(-3) K(-1) for complexes 1 and 2, respectively.