Issue 28, 2006

Nucleation and growth of cobalt nanostructures on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

Abstract

Cobalt in the form of three-dimensional (3D) hemispherical clusters (size ∼10–30 nm) were observed to grow on pristine graphite surfaces via a Volmer–Weber growth mode. X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals that these clusters are physisorbed on the surface. In the presence of minute surface contamination, the morphology of Co changes into a mixture of irregular and hemispherical three-dimensional islands. The formation of irregular islands appears to be mediated by the chemical interactions between Co and the surface contaminants as evidenced from analysis of the carbon π–π* transitions. Further analysis of size distribution of Co nanoclusters grown on pristine surfaces shows a critical nucleus size of i* = 1, i.e. a Co dimer forms the smallest stable cluster on a pristine graphite surface.

Graphical abstract: Nucleation and growth of cobalt nanostructures on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

Additions and corrections

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
30 Mar 2006
Accepted
26 Apr 2006
First published
15 May 2006

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2006,8, 3326-3334

Nucleation and growth of cobalt nanostructures on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

S. W. Poon, J. S. Pan and E. S. Tok, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2006, 8, 3326 DOI: 10.1039/B604627B

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