Magnetocaloric Effect in La0.67Ba0.33Mn0.95Ni0.05O3 Manganite Near Room Temperature

We report the structural, magnetic, and magnetocaloric properties of La0.67Ba0.33Mn0.95Ni0.05O3 (LBMNO) manganite, synthesized by sol-gel method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis using Rietveld refinement showed that this sample crystallizes in the rhombohedral structure with R3̄\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$\bar {3}$\end{document}c space group. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis were used to confirm the structure formation of the LBMNO material. The temperature dependent magnetization data revealed a transition from ferromagnetic (FM) to paramagnetic (PM) phase at TC=\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$T_{\mathrm {C}}=$\end{document} 308 K. Using Arrott plots, it was found that the transition is of a second order. From the measured magnetization data as a function of magnetic applied field, the magnetic entropy change (−ΔSM) and the relative cooling power RCP have been determined. In the vicinity of TC\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$T_{\mathrm {C}}$\end{document} (−ΔSM) reached a maximum value of 2.15 J kg− 1 K− 1 and a large RCP value of about 299 J kg− 1 under 5 T− 1. This magnetocaloric effect has been analyzed by considering the Landau theory of magnetic phase transition. Consequently, our sample can be considered a promising material in room-temperature magnetic refrigeration.