Preparation of magnetic Ni-Cu nanoalloy by chemical reduction of copper(II) bis(oxalato)nickelate(II) and nickel(II) bis(oxalato)copperate(II) trihydrate complexes

Abstract

Magnetic nanoalloys are used in different areas such as refrigeration applications, optoelectronic, catalysis and biological applications [1,2]. Transition metal complexes, especially the metal compounds of group IB, are such as Fe, Ni, and Co varying the composition of the alloy, due to electronic factor, can alter their catalytic activity [3]. These nanoparticles can be generated in a variety of ways. The methods are included molecular beams, chemical reduction, thermal decomposition of transition-metal complexes and electrochemical synthesis [4]. In this work, Ni-Cu nanoalloys have been prepared by reduction of copper(II) bis(oxalato)nickelate(II) and nickel(II) bis(oxalato)copperate(II) trihydrate. Here hydrazine monohydrate has been used as a reducing agent in chemical reduction of metal complexes. These nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) and EDX analysis. The percentages of phases were calculated by the Rietveld method. Besides, strain and crystals size were calculated by the Williamson - Hall method and the profile coefficients were obtained in the GSAS software.