Synthesis of Fe-Co Alloy Particles by Modified Polyol Process

Abstract

The successful synthesis of Fe-Co nanoparticles by using a modified polyol process is reported. The formation of the alloy nanoparticles was confirmed by X-ray diffraction and X-ray extended absorption fine structure analyses. The concentration of iron in these particles could be varied between 40% and 90% by controlling the reaction conditions such as initial Fe/Co ratio, reaction temperature and hydroxyl ion concentration. The shape of the particles changed from spherical to cubic when the concentration of Fe was increased from 40 to above 60 at. %. The highest magnetization of 225 emu/g was recorded for Fe <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">70</sub> Co <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">30</sub> nanoparticles. The magnetization of these particles decreased by about 20% when exposed to severe oxidizing atmosphere for seven days