Impact of sintering temperature on the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties in Pr0.5Eu0.1Sr0.4MnO3 manganites

This article covers the detailed study on the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Pr0.5Eu0.1Sr0.4 MnO3 samples. The materials were synthesized through the sol-gel using nitrate-citrate route method by sintering at four different temperatures starting from 600 to 1000 degrees C. Phase purity, structure, size, and crystallinity were investigated using XRD and SEM. The structure, magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effect of Pr0.5Eu0.1Sr0.4MnO3 ceramics with different particle sizes have been investigated. Regardless of the sintering temperature, the orthorhombic crystal structure with the Pnma space group is stable. XRD analysis showed that the particle size increases with the increase in sintering temperature. The Curie temperature shifted from 90 K to 270 K. Magnetization, magnetic entropy change (DS), and relative cooling power (RCP) also increased with size in the nanocrystalline samples. The magnetic entropy changes were about 0.89 J/kg K, 2.75 J/kg K, 3.34 J/kg K, and 3.82 J/kg K for the samples sintered at 600 degrees C, 800 degrees C, 900 degrees C and 1000 degrees C, respectively when a magnetic field of 5 T was applied. It is shown that for Pr0.5Eu0.1Sr0.4MnO3 the magnetic entropy change follows a master curve behavior. (C) 2014 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.