Mesoporous Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanostructured material synthesized by one-step soft-templating: A magnetic study

A combined magnetization and zero-field {sup 59}Co spin-echo nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study has been carried out on one member of a recently developed class of highly ordered mesoporous nanostructured materials, mesoporous Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} (designated UCT-8, University of Connecticut, mesoporous materials). The material was synthesized using one-step soft-templating by an inverse micelles packing approach. Characterization of UCT-8 by powder x-ray diffraction and electron microscopy reveals that the mesostructure consists of random close-packed Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoparticles ≈ 12 nm in diameter. The N{sub 2} sorption isotherm for UCT-8, which is type IV with a type H1 hysteresis loop, yields a 134 m{sup 2}/g BET surface area and a 7.7 nm BJH desorption pore diameter. The effect of heat treatment on the structure is discussed. The antiferromagnetic Co{sub 3}O{sub 4} nanoparticles have a Néel temperature T{sub N} = 27 K, somewhat lower than the bulk. A fit to the Curie-Weiss law over the temperature range 75 K ≤ T ≤ 300 K yields an effective magnetic moment of μ{sub eff} = 4.36 μ{sub B} for the Co{sup 2+} ions, indicative of some orbital contribution, and a Curie-Weiss temperature Θ = −93.5 K, consistent with antiferromagnetic ordering. The inter-sublattice and intra-sublattice exchange constants for the Co{sup 2+} ions are J{sub 1}/k{sub B} = (−)4.75 K and J{sub 2}/k{sub B} = (−)0.87 K, respectively, both corresponding to antiferromagnetic coupling. The presence of uncompensated surface spins is observed below T{sub N} with shifts in the hysteresis loops, i.e., an exchange-bias effect. The {sup 59}Co NMR spectrum for UCT-8, which is attributed to Co{sup 2+} ions at the tetrahedral A sites, is asymmetrically broadened with a peak at ≈55 MHz (T = 4.2 K). Since there is cubic symmetry at the A-sites, the broadening is indicative of a magnetic field distribution due to the uncompensated surface spins. The spectrum is consistent with antiferromagnetically ordered particles that are nanometer in size and single domain.