Magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Pr1−xSrxCoO3 cobaltites

•Second order paramagnetic–ferromagnetic transition.•High magnetic entropy change and refrigeration cooling power in Pr1−xSrxCoO3.•Modified Arrot plot analyzes was used to obtain the critical exponents.•Magnetic phase transition can be described with the mean-field theory.

We report results of magnetic measurements and magnetocaloric investigations on the series of polycrystalline compounds Pr1−xSrxCoO3 (x=0.3, 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6). Magnetic entropy change ΔSM was estimated from isothermal magnetization data. We have found quite large values of magnetic entropy change around TC’s, for the sample with x=0.5, around 1.9 J/kg K for μ0ΔH=4 T, with reasonable large relative cooling power (~104 J/kg). The modified Arrot plot (MAP) method was used to analyze the paramagnetic–ferromagnetic phase transition to find the critical exponents. The values of the critical exponents associated with this transition were close to those expected in mean-field model.