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Hydrogen-induced Ostwald ripening of cobalt nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes

Journal of Nanoparticle Research volume 16, Article number: 2234 (2014) Cite this article

Abstract

Nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes can be used as a high surface area catalyst or as a means to produce well-defined particles. In this study, cobalt nanoparticles were formed on xxsingle-walled carbon nanotubes during hydrogen exposure at an elevated temperature. The average particle size increased as a function of reaction time ranging from 1.5 to 40 nm, indicating hydrogen-induced Ostwald ripening which is remarkable for a nonhydrogen-absorbing material. Mass abundances and cobalt shells were observed which possibly contained hydrogen. The combination of large surface area, high atomic mobility, and hydrogen-induced Ostwald ripening resulted in a novel method to prepare various cobalt nanoparticle shapes and sizes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the National Science Foundation (NSF CBET-0828771) and AFOSR MURI (FA9550-08-1-0309) for financial support. Electron microscopy on the T20 was accomplished at the Electron Microscopy Center for Materials Research at Argonne National Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Laboratory operated under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 by UChicago Argonne, LLC. TEM assistance by R. E. Cook is appreciated by the authors.

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Author notes

  1. Marcel Di Vece

    Present address: Faculty of Science, Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science, Nanophotonics-Physics of Devices, Soft Condensed Matter, Utrecht University, P.O. Box 80.000, 3508 TA, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Engineering & Applied Science, Yale University, 9 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA

    Marcel Di Vece, Codruta Zoican-Loebick & Lisa D. Pfefferle

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  1. Marcel Di Vece
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  2. Codruta Zoican-Loebick
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  3. Lisa D. Pfefferle
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Correspondence to Marcel Di Vece.

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Di Vece, M., Zoican-Loebick, C. & Pfefferle, L.D. Hydrogen-induced Ostwald ripening of cobalt nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes. J Nanopart Res 16, 2234 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-2234-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-013-2234-9

Keywords

  • Cobalt
  • Nanoparticle
  • Hydrogen
  • Carbon nanotube, magic number
  • Ostwald ripening
  • Nanocomposites