Structural, magnetic, magnetocaloric effect and critical behaviour study of NiCeFeO4 spinel ferrite

Abstract We report the structural, magnetic, magnetocaloric properties, and the critical behavior of the NiCeFeO4 spinel ferrite synthesized via the sol–gel method. The XRD analysis has revealed that NiCeFeO4 belongs to the Fd-3m space group of the cubic spinel structure. Furthermore, magnetic properties demonstrate that the prepared sample undergoes a second-order ferromagnetic-paramagnetic (FM-PM) phase transitions at TC = 640 K. Moreover, it was found that the maximum magnetic entropy change ( − Δ S M max ) at an applied magnetic field of 5 T is about 0.43 J kg−1K−1, corresponding to relative cooling powers (RCP) of 70.4 J kg−1. Finally, employing various experimental and theoretical techniques, the critical exponents deduced (β, γ and δ) in this study were observed to follow the Heisenberg theory in three dimensions, signifying short-range ferromagnetic interactions.