Structural, Magnetic, and Magnetocaloric Properties of R2NiMnO6 (R = Eu, Gd, Tb)
Abstract Double perovskite Eu2NiMnO6 (ENMO) Gd2NiMnO6 (GNMO) and Tb2NiMnO6 (TNMO) ceramic powder have been synthesized by solid-state reaction and their crystal structure, microstructure, cryogenic magnetic properties, and magnetocaloric performance have been investigated. Structural studies by using X-ray diffraction shows that all compounds crystallize in the monoclinic structure with a P21/n space group. A ferromagnetic to paramagnetic (FM-PM) second-order phase transition occurred in ENMO, GNMO, and TNMO around 143, 130, and 112 K, respectively. The values of maximum magnetic entropy change and relative cooling power at an applied field of 5 T are found to be 3.2, 3.8, 3.5 J/kgK and 150, 182, 176 J/kg respectively, for the studied sample. The change in structural, magnetic, and magnetocaloric effect ascribed to the superexchange mechanism of Ni2+ – O – Mn3+ and Ni2+ – O – Mn4+. Due to different atomic size of Eu, Gd, Tb changes the ratio of Mn4+/Mn3+ which is responsible for the variation of properties significantly in double perovskite.