Nanoscale Bimetallic Co<i>_x</i>Pt₁_-<i>_x</i> Particles Dispersed in Poly(vinylpyrrolidone): Synthesis from Organometallic Precursors and Characterization

Abstract

The reaction of Co(η3-C8H13)(η4-C8H12) and Pt2(dba)3 (dba = bis-dibenzylidene acetone) under dihydrogen leads in the presence of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) to nanometric bimetallic particles CoxPt1-x. The composition of the material is determined by the initial ratio of the two organometallic precursors. The bimetallic character of the particles is evidenced by magnetic, structural, and spectroscopic studies. Structural changes are evidenced both by HREM and WAXS: platinum rich particles adopt a fcc crystalline structure while cobalt rich particles adopt a non periodic polytetraedral arrangement. The magnetic properties of the materials have been investigated. ZFC/FC measurements show that the particles are superparamagnetic and that their size dispersity is very low. From isothermal magnetization measurements, the extrapolated value of the coercive field HC(T = 0) is shown to increase continuously with Pt concentration, which is characteristic of bimetallic particles.