Synthesis and magnetic properties of Au-coated amorphous Fe20Ni80 nanoparticles

Gold-coated nanoparticles of Fe₂₀Ni₈₀ (permalloy) have been synthesized by a microemulsion process. The as-prepared samples consist of ∼5 nm diameter particles of amorphous Fe₂₀Ni₈₀ that are likely encapsulated in B₂O₃. One or more Fe₂₀Ni₈₀@B₂O₃ particles are subsequently encapsulated in 8-20 nm gold nanospheres, as determined by TEM and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) line broadening. The gold shells were found to be under expansive strain. Magnetic data confirm the existence of a superparamagnetic phase with a blocking temperature, T_B, of ∼33 K. The saturation magnetization, M_S, of the as-prepared, Au-coated sample is ∼65 emu g⁻¹ at 5 K and ∼16 emu g⁻¹ at 300 K. The coercivity, H_C, is ∼280 Oe at 5 K.     

Temperature-dependent magnetic anomalies of CuO nanoparticles

Copper oxide (CuO) nanoparticles with an average size of 25 nm were prepared by a sol-gel method. A detailed study was made of the magnetization of CuO nanoparticles using a maximum field of 60 kOe for temperatures between 8 and 300 K. Antiferromagnetic CuO nanoparticles exhibit anomalous magnetic properties, such as enhanced coercivity and magnetic moments. Significantly, the magnitude of the hysteresis component tends to weaken upon increase in temperature (>8 K). In addition, a hysteresis loop shift and coercivity enhancement are observed at 8 K in the field-cooled (FC, at 50 kOe) case. It is thought that the change in hysteresis behavior is due to the uncompensated surface spins of the CuO nanoparticles. The susceptibility (χ) plot showed that χ varied substantially at temperatures below 12 K, and this transition is due to the exchange interactions between the neighboring atoms at the nanoscale.     

Ferromagnetic properties of glucose coated Cu2O nanoparticles

Magnetic properties of glucose coated cuprous oxide nanoparticles of different sizes have been studied. Unlike bulk Cu₂O, which shows diamagnetic behavior, the nanoparticles show superparamagnetic behavior. A superparamagnetic blocking temperature of 21 K is observed for 5 nm particles. A magnetic hysteresis loop with a coercivity of 406 Oe is observed for these particles at 5 K. The magnetization and the coercivity increase with decreasing particle size. The superparamagnetic behavior, along with the increase in magnetization and coercivity with decreasing particle size, is due to the enhanced surface contributions to the magnetism.     

Specific heat studies on pristine and oxygenated iron tellurides

Specific heat studies carried out on Fe_1.1Te and oxygenated Fe_1.1Te and FeTe₂ in the range 77-300 K exhibit interesting behavior. The specific heat of the pristine sample reveals a well known structural transition associated with antiferromagnetic ordering near 67 K with a small thermal hysteresis of ∼1 K. Contrastingly, the oxygenated samples exhibit a phase transition with a very large thermal hysteresis of ∼100 K. The specific heat transition observed at the 150 and 260 K regions in the oxygenated Fe_1.1Te sample could not be captured by the magnetization measurements indicating that specific heat transitions seen in oxygenated samples may not be of magnetic origin.     

Synthesis of single-crystal Sm-Co nanoparticles by cluster beam deposition

Single-crystal Sm-Co nanoparticles have been successfully produced by a cluster beam deposition technique. Particles have been deposited by DC magnetron sputtering using high Ar pressures on both single-crystal Si substrates and Au grids for the magnetic and structural/microstructural properties, respectively. Oxidation of the particles is prevented by using carbon buffer and cover layers. Nanoparticles have a uniform size distribution with an average size of 4.2, 6 and 7 nm at 1, 1.5 and 2 Torr of Ar pressure, respectively. At 1 Torr, the particles have the disordered 1:7 structure and a high coercivity of 19 kOe at 10 K. These particles show a superparamagnetic behavior with a blocking temperature of T_B = 145 K. From this value of T_B and the particle volume, the value of anisotropy constant K is estimated to be around 2.2 × 10⁷ ergs/cc. Heat is introduced to the particles during their flight to the substrate to increase the particle size. Nanoparticles of SmCo₅ with an average size of 15 nm and high room temperature coercivity have been produced. No change in magnetic and structural properties of the samples has been observed even after 10 months. Cluster beam deposition could play a key role for the production of rare earth nanoparticles for many applications.     

Size-dependent photoluminescent properties of uncapped CdS particles prepared by acoustic wave and microwave method

CdS particles with crystallite size of 5-12 nm have been prepared via acoustic wave stimulated (sonochemical) route and microwave initiated combustion method. X-ray line broadening and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) suggest that sonochemical powders are more amorphous (5-10 nm) compared to microwave-synthesized sulphides (10-15 nm). The photoluminescent (PL) properties of powders with size <10 nm show a clearly blue shifted, resolved emission with full-width at half-maxima (FWHM) ∼100 nm, while powders with size >15 nm show dominant blue to green narrow emission with FWHM ∼60 nm. The mechanistic details of the synthetic route appear to affect the morphology and consequently the PL properties to a significant extent.     

Exchange bias in Co nanoparticles embedded in an Mn matrix

Magnetic properties of Co nanoparticles of 1.8 nm diameter embedded in Mn and Ag matrices have been studied as a function of the volume fraction (VFF). While the Co nanoparticles in the Ag matrix show superparamagnetic behavior with T_B=9.5 K (1.5% VFF) and T_B=18.5 K (8.9% VFF), the Co nanoparticles in the antiferromagnetic Mn matrix show a transition peak at ∼65 K in the ZFC/FC susceptibility measurements, and an increase of the coercive fields at low temperature with respect to the Ag matrix. Exchange bias due to the interface exchange coupling between Co particles and the antiferromagnetic Mn matrix has also been studied. The exchange bias field (H_eb), observed for all Co/Mn samples below 40 K, decreases with decreasing volume fraction and with increasing temperature and depends on the field of cooling (H_fc). Exchange bias is accompanied by an increase of coercivity.     

Ferromagnetic behavior of high-purity ZnO nanoparticles

ZnO nanoparticles with the wurtzite structure were prepared by chemical methods at low temperature in aqueous solution. The size of the nanoparticles is in the range from about 10 to 30 nm. Ferromagnetic properties were observed from 2 K to room temperature and above. Magnetization versus temperature, M(T), and isothermal M(H) measurements were obtained. The coercive field clearly shows ferromagnetism above room temperature. An exchange bias was observed, and we related this behavior to the core-shell structure present in the samples. The chemical synthesis, structure, and defects in the bulk related to oxygen vacancies are the main factors for the observed magnetic behavior.     

Spectral dependence of Faraday rotation in magnetite-polymer nanocomposites

We report the size-dependent magneto-optical properties of nanometer-sized magnetite particles embedded in poly(methyl methacrylate). The nanocomposite material contains Fe₃O₄ particles with diameters ranging from 8 to 200 nm. Faraday rotation spectra are measured in the wavelength range of 400-900 nm. A broad spectral band centered at 650 nm (1.91 eV) is observed in the for the larger (200 nm) particles. Decreasing of nanoparticle size leads to a significant narrowing of this band and appearance of an additional peak in the 2.5-3.2 eV range. We propose that the changes to the spectrum are caused by structural changes in the small particles, which affect the magneto-optically active charge transfer and orbital promotion electronic transitions. In addition, the Faraday rotation spectrum of the composite containing 8 nm particles is sensitive to nanoparticle concentration. Increasing the concentration of nanoparticles in the composite results in a red shift of the spectral feature at approximately 450 nm. We propose that the shift of the peak in Faraday rotation spectrum is due to particle-particle interactions in the concentrated sample. Ferromagnetic Resonance measurements confirm a magneto-static interaction in the concentrated sample not present in the diluted sample.     

Mechanism of chain formation in nanofluid based MR fluids

Mechanism of structure formation in bidispersed colloids is important for its physical and optical properties. It is microscopically observed that the mechanism of chain formation in magnetic nanofluid based magnetorheological (MR) fluid is quite different from that in the conventional MR fluid. Under the application of magnetic field the magnetic nanoparticles are filled inside the structural microcavities formed due to the association of large magnetic particles, and some of the magnetic nanoparticles are attached at the end of the chains formed by the large particles. The dipolar energy of the large particles in a magnetic nanofluid matrix becomes effective magnetic permeability (μ_eff) times smaller than that of the neutral medium. Inclusion of magnetic nanoparticles (∼10 nm) with large magnetic particles (∼3-5 μm) restricts the aggregation of large particles, which causes the field induced phase separation in MR fluids. Hence, nanofluid based MR fluids are more stable than conventional MR fluids, which subsequently increase their application potentiality.     

Order-disorder transformation in FePt nanoparticles studied by ferromagnetic resonance

We have investigated the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) response of as-made and temperature annealed FePt magnetic nanoparticles. The as-made nanoparticles, which have been fabricated by a chemical route, crystallize in the low magnetic anisotropy fcc phase and have a diameter in the range of 2-4 nm. The annealing of the particles at high temperatures (T_A=550, 650 and C) in an inert Ar atmosphere produces a partial transformation to the high magnetocrystalline anisotropy L1₀ phase, with a significant increase in particle size and size distribution. FMR measurements at X-band (9.5 GHz) and Q-band (34 GHz) show a single relatively narrow line for the as-synthesized particles and a structure of two superimposed lines for the three annealed samples. The origin of this line shape has been attributed to the presence of the disordered fcc phase. Assuming that the system consists of a collection of identical particles with a random distribution of easy axes, we have been able to estimate a mean value for the magnetic anisotropy constant of the particles in the fcc phase, K∼2×10⁶ erg/cm³. The measured line shape in the annealed samples can be explained if we consider that the magnetic anisotropy of the particles has a gaussian distribution with a relatively broad width.     

Spontaneous organisation of ZnS nanoparticles into monocrystalline nanorods with highly enhanced dopant-related emission

A natural self-assembly process of semiconductor nanoparticles leading to the formation of doped, monocrystalline nanorods with highly enhanced dopant-related luminescence properties is reported. ∼4 nm sized, polycrystalline ZnS nanoparticles of zinc-blende (cubic) structure, doped with Cu⁺-Al³⁺ or Mn²⁺ have been aggregated in the aqueous solution and grown into nanorods of length ∼400 nm and aspect ratio ∼12. Transmission electron microscopic (TEM) images indicate crystal growth mechanisms involving both Ostwald-ripening and particle-to-particle oriented-attachment. Sulphur-sulphur catenation is proposed for the covalent-linkage between the attached particles. The nanorods exhibit self-assembly mediated quenching of the lattice defect-related emission accompanied by multifold enhancement in the dopant-related emission. This study demonstrates that the collective behavior of an ensemble of bare nanoparticles, under natural conditions, can lead to the formation of functionalized (doped) nanorods with enhanced luminescence properties.     

Synthesis of nickel nanoparticles in silica by alcogel electrolysis

We report a novel technique for the formation of metal nanoparticles, based on electrolysis of the alcogels containing metal chlorides. The alcogel was formed from TEOS, water, ethanol, and nickel chloride, and subjected to galvanostatic electrolysis. This resulted in successful formation of Ni nanoparticles inside the silica gel. Average particle size of FCC Ni lies between 18 and 20 nm. The formation of tetragonal nickel (a sub-oxide of nickel) as well as NiO were also detected by XRD and SAED. The resistivity measurements showed that the nickel nanoparticles were separated from each other by Ni(O) present between them. Magnetic studies based on ZFC and FC measurements below room temperature (up to 5 K) and above room temperature (up to 700 K) were conducted using SQUID and Magnetic TGA, respectively, which showed strong magnetic irreversibility as attributable to exchange interaction between metallic and oxide phases and mutual interactions among metallic particles in the network structure. The blocking temperature (~600 K) of the samples was above room temperature. M–H studies based on VSM showed an increase in magnetic coercivity with the formation of NiO. A magnetic transition associated with tetragonal nickel was seen at 10 K.     

Ex situ synthesis and optical properties of ZnO-PbS nanocomposites

Zinc oxide (ZnO) and lead sulphide (PbS) nanoparticles separately synthesized by a precipitation method were combined by an ex situ route to prepare ZnO-PbS nanocomposites with different molar ratios of ZnO and PbS. The structure and morphology of the ZnO, PbS and ZnO-PbS samples were analyzed with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). A UV-vis spectrophotometer was used to collect the absorption and 325 nm He-Cd and 488 nm Ar lasers were used to collect the photoluminescence data from the samples. ZnO nanoparticles showed a broad and stable emission peak at ∼570 nm, while a strongly quantum confined emission from PbS nanoparticles was detected at ∼1344-1486 nm. The ZnO-PbS nanocomposites exhibited dual emission in the visible and near-infrared (NIR) regions that is associated with defects and recombination of excitonic centres in the ZnO and PbS nanoparticles, respectively. The PL intensity of the visible emission from the ZnO-PbS nanocomposite was shown to increase when the ZnO to PbS molar ratio was 5:1 and the emission was almost quenched at molar ratios of 1:1 and 1:5. For different molar ratios of ZnO to PbS, the PL intensity of the NIR emission from the ZnO-PbS nanocomposites was more intense than that of PbS nanoparticles.     

The influence of thermal annealing on the structural and magnetic properties of gold nanoparticles

In the past few years ferromagnetic-like behavior has been reported in metal gold nanoparticles coated with diverse organic surfactants. In this work we report on the effect of thermal annealing on the ferromagnetic-like behavior of oleic acid and oleylamine coated gold nanoparticles of about 7 nm size. The magnetic moment of the “as prepared” sample is about 3×10⁻² emu/g and the coercive field is 200 Oe at 10 kOe and 5 K, after the annealing the behavior changes from ferromagnetic-like to paramagnetic and the magnetization at 10 kOe decreases at a factor of 10. These results are compared with those obtained for oleylamine coated gold nanoparticles, which are diamagnetic at room temperature.     

Synthesis of magnetic hollow silica using polystyrene bead as a template

In this paper, we report a new route to synthesize novel magnetic hollow silica nanospheres (MHSNs) using polystyrene particles as sacrificial templates, and TEOS and Fe₃O₄ as precursors. TEM, EDS, XRD, and SQUID were applied to characterize MHSNs. TEM and EDS results show that the MHSNs consist of about 200 nm of hollow cores and ∼35 nm shells with ∼10 nm of Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles embedded. The polystyrene beads were successfully removed by immersing the as-prepared silica nanocomposite in a toluene solution. XRD results demonstrate that the Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles still keep spinel structure even heated at low temperature. The surface status of the polystyrene beads and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles has an important effect on the formation of the MHSNs. The MHSNs present a superparamagnetism at room temperature by SQUID measurement. The MHSNs have potential applications in biosystem and nanomedicine.     

Magnetic properties and giant magnetoresistance in electrodeposited Co–Ag granular films

Small cobalt particles embedded in a silver matrix have been prepared using the electrodeposition technique. The size of the clusters is controlled by the deposition potential and the Co growth time. Structural, magnetic and magneto-transport properties of Co–Ag samples have been investigated as a function of the Co concentration between 2 and 40 at% cobalt. Superparamagnetic behavior is evidenced for the low contents of cobalt while long-range magnetic order appears at higher Co concentrations. The particles size has been determined from magnetic properties and from the X-ray diffraction technique, and varies between 3.5 and 9 nm. Magnetoresistance passes through a maximum as a function of the cobalt concentration. A maximum of ∼4% GMR is obtained at room temperature while GMR reaches a value of 14% at 10 K.     

Influence of initial pH on the particle size and fluorescence properties of the nano scale Eu(III) doped yttria

Europium doped ytrrium oxide (Eu:Y₂O₃) was synthesized by a chemical wet method in the presence of tween-80 and ?-caprolactam in pH range 4-10. It has been observed that the variation in surface area, pore size, and pore volume of the final product, was strongly dependent on the initial pH of the solution. The powder with a large surface area (∼230 m²/g) and low pore diameter (∼16 nm) was obtained when the powder was processed at pH ∼4. The crystallite sizes of the powders processed at pH ∼4 and 10, were found to be 35 and 198 nm, respectively. The structural, chemical and thermal studies of the powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transformed infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR), Carbon analyzer and Thermogravimetry (TGA). High resolution transmission electron microscopic (HRTEM) study of heat treated powders showed a polygonal morphology with particle size of 40 nm when powder was derived at pH ∼4. Observations of fluorescence suggested that the ⁵D₀→⁷F₂ transition within europium was found to be highly dependent on the initial pH.     

Fluorescence properties of Ag nanoparticles in water, methanol and hexane

Ag nanoparticles, synthesized employing the electro-exploding wire technique, are reported. Absorption in the UV-visible region by these particles is characterized by the features reported in the literature, namely, a possible plasmon peak at ∼404 nm. For Ag nanoparticles dispersed in water, photo-excitation in the ranges 210-235 and 255-280 nm produces similar fluorescence emission at ∼300 nm, whose corresponding resonant absorption takes place at 215 and 270 nm in the excitation spectra. Further, we study the effect of the surrounding medium (solvent effect) on fluorescence from these nanoparticles by comparing fluorescence emission in methanol and hexane for photo-excitation in the same range. Compared to water, fluorescence emission in methanol is observed red-shifted at ∼310 nm, which further red-shifts to ∼325 nm in hexane. The corresponding resonant absorptions in methanol are at 225 and 275 nm. Consequence of this red-shift in a less polar solvent is discussed.     

Mechanism of the growth of ZnSe nanowires with Fe catalysts

ZnSe nanowires of high optical quality have been grown with Fe catalysts at the usual temperatures for the fabrication of ZnSe-base optoelectronic devices (about 600 K). It is found that only Fe nanoparticles of 10-50 nm diameter act as catalysts in the narrow temperature range around 600 K (with a minimum temperature of 473-523 K, and a maximum temperature of 623-673 K). The growth mechanism is discussed in terms of the vapour-liquid-solid mechanism.