Structure, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Pr0.5Sr0.5MnO3 with cobalt substitution

We experimentally study the structure, magnetic and magnetocaloric effect of Pr0.5Sr0.5Mn1-xCoxO3 (0.00 <= x <= 0.08) with the substitution of Co. The results of the refined XRD data show that all the samples have a tetragonal structure with the I4/mcm space group. The small amount of Co substitution does not change the structure of the materials. However, the magnetization data indicate that the charge-ordered antiferromagnetic state vanishes with a small amount of Co substitution. The Curie temperature of samples can be effectively tuned with the substitution and it decreases from 270 to 175 K. With a magnetic field change of 15 kOe, the maximum magnetic entropy change (|Delta S-M|(max)) of the samples increases to 1.21 J kg(-1) K-1 at T-C = 255 K for x = 0.02, and then decrease monotonically. All samples undergo second-order phase transition. The wide operating range makes our compounds as good refrigeration candidates.