Surface, catalytic, and magnetic properties of small iron particles: The effect of chemisorption of hydrogen on magnetic anisotropy

Abstract

The superparamagnetic behavior of very small particles of metallic iron (ca 1.5 nm), with about half of their atoms at the surface, is changed reversibly by adsorption and desorption of hydrogen below the superparamagnetic transition temperature. The change after adsorption implies a lowering of the anisotropy energy barrier for the magnetic relaxation of iron and is ascribed to a change in crystalline shape. No such changes are observed for larger particles of iron (ca 8 nm) with about 10% of their atoms at the surface.