Effect of Ho substitution on structural, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Co(CrFe)O4

In this study, structural, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Ho-substituted Co(CrFe)O-4 spinel compounds produced by the sol-gel method were investigated. The Ho concentration in Co(CrFe)O-4 spinel structure was changed from 0 to 20% by 5% steps. It is observed that the Ho3+ ions create a new phase HoCrO3/HoFeO3 in the host spinel lattice. SEM images of samples indicate that the average particle size increases with Ho content. The paramagnetic to ferro-/ferrimagnetic phase transition temperature increases from 312 to 344 K with Ho content. While the fluctuation in saturation magnetization of samples was detected at low temperature, it almost becomes a linear change with the Ho content. The maximum magnetic entropy change under 7 T magnetic field was found as - 1.39, - 1.50, - 1.20, - 0.98 and - 0.91 J/kgK for Ho-free, 5, 10, 15 and 20 wt% Ho content in CoCrFeO4 spinel structure, respectively.