Structural, magnetic and magneto-transport properties of monovalent doped manganite Pr0.55K0.05Sr0.4MnO3

• Investigation of a new monovalent doped manganite Pr0.55K0.05Sr0.4MnO3.
• The stability of the sample has been carried by using the DTA analysis.
• Magnetic entropy change around 2.26 J kg−1 K−1 resulting RCP value of 70 J/kg for an applied magnetic field of 2 T.
• Second order phase transition is confirmed by Arrott plots: A and B Landau coefficients.
• Thermal conductivity values are found to be higher for sample with the largest crystallite sizes.

Pr0.55K0.05Sr0.4MnO3 sample have been synthesized using the conventional solid state reaction. Rietveld refinements of the X-ray diffraction patterns at room temperature confirm that the sample is single phase and crystallizes in the orthorhombic structure with Pnma space group; the crystallite size is around 70 nm. The SEM images show that grain size spreads around 1000–1200 nm. DTA analysis does not reveal any clear transition in temperature range studied. The low-temperature DSC indicates that Curie temperature is around 297 K. Magnetization measurements in a magnetic applied field of 0.01 T exhibit a paramagnetic–ferromagnetic transition at the Curie temperature TC = 303 K. A magnetic entropy change under an applied magnetic field of 2 T is found to be 2.26 J kg−1 K−1, resulting in a large relative cooling power around 70 J/kg. Electrical resistivity measurements reveal a transition from semiconductor to metallic phase. The thermal conductivity is found to be higher than that reported for undoped and Na doped manganites reported by Thaljaoui et al. (2013).