Structural, morphologic and magnetic properties of Pr0.6La0.1Ca0.3Mn1−xFexO3 (0≤x≤0.3) perovskite nanopowder

In this work, we report the effect of Fe doping on the structural and magnetic properties of Pr0.6La0.1Ca0.3Mn1−xFexO3 (0≤x≤0.3) nanopowder samples. The samples have been synthesized by sol–gel method. All the samples crystallized in the orthorhombic system with Pnma space group. The unit cell volume increases with increasing Fe amount. The transmission Mössbauer spectra at room temperature have revealed the same isomer shift δ value assigned to Fe3+ ion for all samples. The presence of each element and surface morphology of all our investigated samples were carried out by energy dispersive X-ray analysis using scanning electron microscopy. Magnetization measurements versus temperature under magnetic applied field of 0.05 T showed that all our investigated samples exhibit a paramagnetic–ferromagnetic transition at low temperature. The Curie temperature decreases with increasing Fe content from 94 K for x=0 to 59 K for x=0.3. The magnetic entropy change |ΔSM| was performed using Maxwell relation method. The maximum value of the magnetic entropy change obtained from the M (H) plot data is |ΔSMMax|~ 0.87 J/kg K for applied magnetic field of 2 T. Our result on magnetocaloric properties suggests that the parent sample Pr0.6La0.1Ca0.3MnO3 is attractive as a possible refrigerant for low temperature magnetic refrigeration.