Synthesis and magnetic characterization of CoMoN2 nanoparticles

A new ternary nitride, CoMoN2, was prepared in the nanosize regime of 9.0 ± 2.0 nm, by nitridation of the precursor intermetallic nitride Co3Mo3N. XRD–Rietveld analysis revealed the presence of 0.60 (±0.02) mass % of Co impurity phase. The calculated space groups of CoMoN2 and Co are P6 3 /mmc and Fm-3m, respectively. The N atoms lie at the interstitial sites and the 12 calculated nitrogen sites indicate the presence of a layered structure. The XPS studies indicated the presence of the nitride and surface oxynitride/oxide phases. CoMoN2 is an interstitial nitride with Co and Mo in the zero oxidation state. The room temperature susceptibility is estimated after subtracting the ferromagnetic contribution from cobalt and found to be 2.7 × 10−4 emu g−1 Oe−1, indicating the Pauli-paramagnetic nature. The ferromagnetic exchange interactions between the Co atoms in CoMoN2 are reduced due to the presence of Mo and N in the crystal lattice. The hysteresis loop shift 19 Oe is attributed to the demagnetizing dipolar fields created in the soft CoMoN2 phase by the hard Co phase.