A facile and novel synthetic route to core-shell Al/Co nanocomposites

The core-shell Al/Co nanocomposites are fabricated via a displacement reaction between Al and CoCl2 with NH4F as a complexing agent and gelatin as a protective agent, and characterized by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersion spectrometry (EDS). The results show that a continuous layer of about 50 nm Co nanoparticles is covered on the surfaces of Al particles to form core-shell Al/Co nanocomposites. The relevant mechanism and several influencing factors are also discussed. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.