Electrochemical Synthesis of Tb-Co Alloy Nanoparticle Aggregates and Their Magnetic Properties

Tb-Co alloy nanoparticle aggregates were successfully prepared by potentiostatic electrodeposition in solution of 0.5 M Tb(NO3)(3) + 0.5 M CoCl2 + 0.1 M citric acid + 0.1 M LiClO4 + DMF. Cyclic voltammetry was used to investigate the electrochemical behaviors of Co2+ and Tb3+ in solution of 0.0.1 M LiClO4 + DMF, and the results showed that Co2+ could induce the electroreduction of Tb3+. The morphologies of Tb-Co alloy nanoparticle aggregates can be controlled by changing electrodeposition potential. The effects of the electrodeposition parameters on the compositions and morphologies of Tb-Co alloy nanoparticle aggregates were investigated in this paper. Compared with the bulk materials, the hysteresis loops of the obtained deposits showed the enhanced coercivity (H-c) and saturation magnetization (M-s) at 300 and 5 K, respectively. In addition, the magnetic properties of Tb-Co alloys can be modulated by changing deposition potential.