Structural, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Fe17−xMnxPr2 compounds

Abstract

Polycrystalline Fe17−xMnxPr2 (x = 0–8) compounds were analyzed by x-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) measurements. The results show that Fe17−xMnxPr2 compounds exhibited the rhombohedral Th2Zn17-type crystal structure. The lattice parameter and unit cell volume increase with Mn content. The magnetic transition is a typical second-order transition near the TC. The Curie temperature (TC) of Fe17−xMnxPr2 compounds decrease sharply in the range of 300–27 K as the Mn content increase. The maximum magnetic entropy change (∣-ΔSM∣) for Fe17−xMnxPr2 compounds is 6.25 J · kg−1·K−1 in a field of 5 T for the compounds with x = 0. The thermal hysteresis for Fe17−xMnxPr2 are 6.59 K at x = 0 and 1.36 K at x = 8, which reduces with the increase in Mn content.