Abstract
In this work, a phenomenological model is applied to describe the magnetocaloric effect for the La0.75Ca0.25MnO3 system near a second-order phase transition from a ferromagnetic to a paramagnetic state. Based on this model, it can predict the values of the magnetocaloric properties from calculation of magnetization as a function of temperature under different external magnetic fields. The magnetic entropy change reaches a peak of about 5.39 J/(kg·K) at 257 K upon 4 T applied field variation. The ∆SM distribution is much more uniform than that of gadolinium, which is desirable for an Ericson-cycle magnetic refrigerator.