Magnetic properties and magnetic entropy change of the NaZn 13 -type La 0.5 Pr 0.5 Fe 11.5 Si 1.5 C x compounds have been investigated. Both the lattice parameter and the Curie temperature increase linearly with increasing carbon concentration. The maximum hysteresis loss at T C reduces remarkably from 94.8 J / kg for x = 0 to 23.1 J / kg for x = 0.3 because of the weakening of the itinerant electron metamagnetic transition. However, the magnetic entropy change remains at the large values of

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... 4 J / kg K for x = 0 and 27.6 J / kg K for x = 0.3 under a field change of 0 -5 T, which implies that a large magnetocaloric effect and a small hysteresis loss have been simultaneously achieved in the La 0.5 Pr 0.5 Fe 11.5 Si 1.5 C x carbides.