EFFECT OF AIR EXPOSURE ON STRUCTURAL AND MAGNETIC FEATURES OF FeCo NANOPARTICLES.

Monodisperse FeCo nanoparticles were synthesized via thermal decomposition of appropriate organometallic complexes in heated toluene containing surfactants, aiming to a soft magnetic nanomaterial with a high metal percent. The particles were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, electron microscopy, and static magnetometry techniques. The effect of air exposure on the structural and magnetic properties was examined. Portions of the dried nanoparticles were mixed with additional surfactants or polyvinylpyrrolidone, followed by redispersion into tetrahydrofuran, so as to study arrangement features in the first case, while the use of polyvinylpyrrolidone intended to the expansion of the interparticle distances in order to get more "isolated" nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]