Magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of nano-sized La0.8Ca0.2Mn1−x Fe x O3 manganites prepared by sol–gel method

Abstract

We present an investigation on magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of nano-sized La 0.8 Ca 0.2 Mn 1-xFe x O 3 (x = 0, 0.01, 0.15, 0.2) manganites synthesized by sol-gel process. X-ray diffraction and magnetization measurements were performed to investigate both crystallographic structure and magnetocaloric properties, respectively. All samples show an orthorhombic structure with Pnma space group. Ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition sensitive to iron doping is observed at Curie temperature (T C ) ranging from 223 K (x = 0) to 70 K (x = 0.2). In addition, a large magnetocaloric effect near T C is observed. Under a magnetic field change of 5 T, a maximum of magnetic entropy DS The large values of entropy changes and related RCP allow concluding that our material could be a highly attractive candidate for magnetic refrigeration.