Nanometre Ni and core/shell Ni/Au nanoparticles with controllable dimensions synthesized in reverse microemulsion

Ni nanoparticles with different diameters were chemically synthesized in reverse microemulsion. Furthermore, core/shell Ni/Au nanoparticles with different core diameters and shell thickness were chemically synthesized from the above Ni nanoparticles through an in situ redox-transmetalation method in reverse microemulsion. The X-ray diffraction patterns revealed the presence of crystalline nickel and gold of the core/shell Ni/Au nanoparticles. The spherical Ni nanoparticles and the core/shell structured Ni/Au nanoparticles could be clearly observed by the transmission electron microscope. The diameter of the Ni nanoparticles with narrow size distribution could be controlled to range from about 8 to 30 turn. The diameter of the core/shell Ni/Au nanoparticles could be controlled to range from about 14 to 30 nm, with about 7-21 nm core diameter and about 3-7 nm shell thickness. The ZFC (zero-field-cooted) and FC (field-cooled) curves of the core/shell Ni/Au nanoparticles indicated that the blocking temperature increased from 16 to 53 K as the diameter of the Ni cores increased from about 7 to 15 nm. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.