Prediction of magnetocaloric effect in La0.8SrxCa0.2-xMnO3 compounds (x=0.05, 0.1 and 0.15) with a first-order magnetic phase transition

In this paper, we have studied structural and magnetocaloric properties of La0.8SrxCa0.2-xMnO3 system with x = 0.05, 0.1 and 0.15. X-ray diffraction (XRD) indicates that samples with x = 0.05 and x = 0.1 crystallize in an orthorhombic structure in Pnma space group, whereas the sample with x = 0.15 crystallize in the rhombohedral structure with R (3) over barc space group. The field dependence of magnetocaloric properties of manganite La0.8SrxCa0.2-xMnO3 undergoing first order phase transition is investigated using a phenomenological model. The magnetic entropy change of the samples varies from 1.01 J/kg K for x = 0 -1.57 J/kg K for x = 0.15 under the applied magnetic field of 12 kOe. These results indicate that the present compounds are one of candidate materials for magnetic refrigerators near room temperature. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.