Shape control and associated magnetic properties of spinel cobalt ferrite nanocrystals

By combining nonhydrolytic reaction with seed-mediated growth, high-quality and monodisperse spinel cobalt ferrite, CoFe2O4, nanocrystals can be synthesized with a highly controllable shape of nearly spherical or almost perfectly cubic. The shape of the nanocrystals can also be reversibly interchanged between spherical and cubic morphology through controlling nanocrystal growth rate. Furthermore, the magnetic studies show that the blocking temperature, saturation, and remanent magnetization of nanocrystals are solely determined by the size regardless the spherical or cubic shape. However, the shape of the nanocrystals is a dominating factor for the coercivity of nanocrystals due to the effect of surface anisotropy. Such magnetic nanocrystals with distinct shapes possess tremendous potentials in fundamental understanding of magnetism and in technological applications of magnetic nanocrystals for high-density information storage.