Morphological and magnetic properties of cobalt nanoclusters electrodeposited onto HOPG

In this work, the morphological and magnetic properties of cobalt nanoclusters obtained from two different sulphate electrolyte solutions were studied. The aggregates were electrodeposited onto highly oriented pyrolytic graphite electrodes in overpotential conditions, in order to investigate the cationic influence on the final properties of the aggregates. In both cases, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy showed random isolated clusters on the electrode surface, where size variations were determined by the electrolyte solution. By using magnetic force microscopy, the distribution of the electrodeposited magnetic material was more clearly observed which gave some insights on the growth mechanism of these aggregates.