Investigation of phase transformation of CoNi alloy nanowires at high potential

Abstract

Among various ferromagnetic materials, Cobalt Nickel (CoNi) is considered as an important alloy because of its enhanced magnetic and catalytic properties as well as better mechanical properties as compared to single Co nanowires. Fabrication of binary alloy nanowires using electrochemical deposition is cheap and challenging due to the different synthesis conditions of magnetic materials being used. In this study phase transformation of CoNi alloy nanowires are observed using Direct current (DC) deposition technique with in Anodic Aluminium Oxide (AAO) template. The average pore diameter of the CoNi alloy nanowires was approximately 60 nm which is equal to the diameter of the nanopore. Results show that at a high potential of -3.5 V fcc CoNi alloy nanowires and low potential of -1.0V hcp CoNi alloy nanowires are formed. The phase transformation of CoNi alloy nanowires at high potential can be attributed to, a small number of large nuclei are formed at the high deposition potential.