Hydrothermal synthesis and magnetocaloric effect of La0.7Ca0.2Sr0.1MnO3

The hydrothermal synthesis and magnetic entropy change for the perovskite manganite La0.7Ca0.2Sr0.1MnO3 have been studied. The La0.7Ca0.2Sr0.1MnO3 can be produced as phase-pure, crystalline powder in one step from solutions of metal salts in aqueous potassium hydroxide solution at a temperature of 240 °C in 72 h. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the materials are made up of cuboid-shaped or rod-shaped particles with typical dimension of 4.0 μm. Heat treatment is necessary to improve the magnetocaloric effect for the hydrothermal sample. The maximum magnetic entropy change (∣ΔSM∣) for the sample annealed at 1200 °C for 6 h is 2.85 J kg− 1 K− 1 at the magnetic field change of 2.0 T and 2.23 J kg− 1 K− 1 at the magnetic field change of 1.5 T at 315 K. The hydrothermal synthesis method is a feasible route to prepare high quality perovskite material for magnetic refrigeration application.