title: Novel nanohybrids derived from the attachment of FePt nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes.
abstract: Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were used as nanotemplates for the dispersion and stabilization of FePt nanoparticles (NPs). Pre-formed capped FePt NPs were connected to the MWCNTs external surface via covalent binding through organic linkers. Free FePt NPs and MWCNTs-FePt hybrids were annealed in vacuum at 700 degrees C in order to achieve the L1(0) ordering of the FePt phase. Both as prepared and annealed samples were characterized and studied using a combination of experimental techniques, such as Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopies, powder X-ray Diffraction (XRD), magnetization and transmittion electron microscopy (TEM) measurements. TEM measurements of the hybrid sample before annealing show that a fine dispersion of NPs along the MWCNTs surface is achieved, while a certain amount of free particles attached to each other in well connected dense assemblies of periodical or non-periodical particle arrangements is also observed. XRD measurements reveal that the FePt phase has the face-centered cubic (fcc) disordered crystal structure in the as prepared samples, which is transformed to the face-centered tetragonal (fct) L1(0) ordered crystal structure after annealing. An increase in the average particle size is observed after annealing, which is higher for the free NPs sample. Superparamagnetic phenomena due to the small FePt particle size are observed in the Mössbauer spectra of the as prepared samples. Mössbauer and magnetization measurements of the MWCNTs-FePt hybrids sample reveal that the part of the FePt particles attached to the MWCNTs surface shows superparamagnetic phenomena at RT even after the annealing process. The hard magnetic L1(0) phase characteristics are evident in the magnetization measurements of both samples after annealing, with the coercivity of the hybrid sample over-scaling that of the free NPs sample by a factor of 1.25.
authors.affiliation: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, GR-45110, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Theodoros
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsoufis
authors.forename: Aphrodite
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tomou
authors.forename: Dimitrios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gournis
authors.forename: Alexios P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Douvalis
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Panagiotopoulos
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kooi
authors.forename: Vasilios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Georgakilas
authors.forename: Imad
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Arfaoui
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bakas
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods*; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry*; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008280:Magnetics; D008422:Materials Testing; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D010316:Particle Size; D010984:Platinum / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D010984:Platinum; D007501:Iron