Magnetic and Electrocatalytic Properties of Nanoscale Cobalt Boride, Co3B.

The use of low-temperature solution synthesis followed by a brief annealing step allows metastable single-phase Co3B nanoparticles to be obtained, with sizes ranging from 11 to 22 nm. The particles are ferromagnetic with a saturation magnetization of 91 A m2 kg-1 (corresponding to 1.02 μB/Co) and a coercive field of 0.14 T at 5 K, retaining the semihard magnetic properties of bulk Co3B. They display a magnetic blocking temperature of 695 K and a Curie temperature near 710 K, but the measurement of these high-temperature properties was complicated by decomposition of the particles during heating in the magnetometer. Additionally, the nanoparticles of Co3B were investigated as an electrocatalyst in the oxygen evolution reaction and showed a low onset potential of 1.55 V vs RHE. XPS measurements were performed before and after the electrocatalytic measurements to study the surface of the catalyst, to pinpoint what appear to be the active surface species.