Effect of Fe Substitution on the Structural, Magnetic and Magnetocaloric Properties of Pr0.6La0.1Mg0.3Mn1-x Fe x O3 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.3) Perovskite Manganites Prepared by Sol Gel Method

Studies of the structural, magnetic, and magnetocaloric properties of polycrystalline Pr0.6La0.1Mg0.3Mn1-x Fe (x) O-3 (0a parts per thousand currency signxa parts per thousand currency sign0.3) perovskite manganites were carried out. The compounds were synthesized using the sol-gel method. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) analysis using Rietveld refinement shows that all our compounds crystallize in the orthorhombic structure with the Pnma space group. The surface morphology and elemental analysis of both samples were carried out by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the energy dispersive X-ray technique (EDX), respectively. Magnetization measurements versus temperature under magnetic applied field of 0.05 T showed that all our investigated samples display a ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition. The substitution of Mn by Fe leads to an increase of the Curie temperature T (C) from 64 K for x=0 to 380 K for x=0.3. The Arrott plots show that the phase transition is of second order. A large magnetic entropy change |Delta S (M) | deduced from isothermal magnetization curves has been recorded in the parent compound Pr0.6La0.1Mg0.3MnO3 reaching a maximum of 0.79 J/kg K under a magnetic applied field of 2 T close to T (C) . Our results on magnetocaloric properties suggest that the Pr0.6La0.1Mg0.3MnO3 compound is attractive as a possible refrigerant for low temperature magnetic refrigeration.