title: Facile synthesis of bimetallic Ag/Ni core/sheath nanowires and their magnetic and electrical properties.
abstract: This paper describes a facile method for coating Ag nanowires with uniform, ferromagnetic sheaths made of polycrystalline Ni. A typical sample of these core/sheath nanowires had a saturation magnetization around 33 emu g(-1). We also demonstrated the use of this magnetic property to align the nanowires by simply placing a suspension of the nanowires on a substrate in a magnetic field and allowing the solvent to evaporate. The electrical conductivity of these core/sheath nanowires (2 × 10(3) S cm(-1)) was two orders of magnitude lower than that of bulk Ag (6.3 × 10(5) S cm(-1)) and Ni (1.4 × 10(5) S cm(-1)). This is likely caused by the transfer of electrons from the Ag core to the Ni sheath due to the difference in work function between the two metals. The electrons are expected to experience an increased resistance due to spin-dependent scattering caused by the randomized magnetic domains in the polycrystalline, ferromagnetic Ni sheath. Studies on the structural changes to the Ni coating over time under different storage conditions show that storage of the nanowires on a substrate under ambient conditions leads to very little Ni oxidation after 6 months. These Ag/Ni core/sheath nanowires show promise in areas such as electronics, spintronics, and displays.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Washington University, St Louis, MO 63130, USA.
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McKiernan
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Sunzida
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferdous
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Verhaverbeke
authors.forename: Kurtis S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Leschkies
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gouk
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lazik
authors.forename: Miao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Alejandro L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Briseno
authors.forename: Younan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D004553:Electric Conductivity; D008280:Magnetics; D036103:Nanotechnology; D053770:Nanowires / Q000737:chemistry*; D009532:Nickel / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012834:Silver; D009532:Nickel