Effect of synthesis method on structural and magnetic properties of La_0.7Ca_0.2Ba_0.1MnO₃

We study the effect of the synthesis method on the structural and magnetic properties of La(0.7)Ca(0.2)Ba(0.1)Mn0(3). The samples were synthesized by coprecipitation and solution combustion methods. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were performed to investigate the crystallographic structure, showing that both methods produced La(0.7)Ca(0.2)Ba(0.1)Mn0(3) monophasic samples. From magnetization measurements a second-order, ferromagnetic to paramagnetic, phase transition was observed. The Curie temperature is found to be 272 K for the sample obtained by coprecipitation and 283 K for the sample obtained by solution combustion. There is a small magnetic hysteresis for both samples. The magnetocaloric parameters were obtained using a phenomenological model; the magnetic entropy change and relative cooling power factor are higher in the sample synthesized by combustion.