Particle Size Control, Structure and Magnetic Characterization of Cobalt Nanoparticles

Cobalt nanoparticles were synthesized by means of a hot metal reduction reaction with cobalt chloride as precursor material. The size of cobalt nanoparticles was controlled by the choice of surfactant and the molar ratio of surfactant-to-reagent. Surfactants with larger alkane side chains yielded a smaller average nanoparticle size (diameter) and tighter size distribution, as these chains provided steric hindrance to the growth of the nanoparticles after initial nucleation. For each alkane side chain, a high molar ratio of surfactant-to-reagent (HSR) rendered nanoparticles with smaller particle size, while a low molar ratio of surfactant-to-reagent (LSR) produced larger nanoparticles. Measurements on transmission electron microscope images of cobalt particles synthesized with tri-octylphosphine revealed an average particle size of 6.9 nm (HSR) and 9.1 nm (LSR), while particles synthesized with tri-butylphosphine had a mean diameter of 12.5 nm (HSR) and 14.9 nm (LSR). X-ray diffraction profiles indicated that particles had metastable ε-cobalt structure. Room temperature magnetization measurements showed ferromagnetic behavior with highly square M-H loops indicative of single domain particles with coercive fields in the range of 400–500 Oe.