Controlled synthesis of uniform cobalt phosphide hyperbranched nanocrystals using tri-n-octylphosphine oxide as a phosphorus source

Haitao Zhang; Don-Hyung Ha; Robert Hovden; Lena Fitting Kourkoutis; Richard D Robinson

doi:10.1021/nl103400a

Controlled synthesis of uniform cobalt phosphide hyperbranched nanocrystals using tri-n-octylphosphine oxide as a phosphorus source

Nano Lett. 2011 Jan 12;11(1):188-97. doi: 10.1021/nl103400a. Epub 2010 Dec 9.

Authors

Haitao Zhang¹, Don-Hyung Ha, Robert Hovden, Lena Fitting Kourkoutis, Richard D Robinson

Affiliation

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, United States.

PMID: 21141992
DOI: 10.1021/nl103400a

Abstract

A new method to produce hyperbranched Co(2)P nanocrystals that are uniform in size, shape, and symmetry was developed. In this reaction tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) was used as both a solvent and a phosphorus source. The reaction exhibits a novel monomer-saturation-dependent tunability between Co metal nanoparticle (NP) and Co(2)P NP products. The morphology of Co(2)P can be controlled from sheaflike structures to hexagonal symmetric structures by varying the concentration of the surfactant. This unique product differs significantly from other reported hyperbranched nanocrystals in that the highly anisotropic shapes can be stabilized as the majority shape (>84%). This is the first known use of TOPO as a reagent as well as a coordinating background solvent in NP synthesis.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.