Synthesis and catalytic behaviors of cobalt nanocrystals with special morphologies

Cobalt nanocrystals with highly ordered snowflake-like, cauliflower-like, ball-like morphologies, and some less ordered shapes were prepared through the reduction of Co(NO3)2 by hydrazine hydrate in the solution of methanol, ethanol, ethylene glycol, and 1,2-propanediol. Based on the characterization results of X-ray powder diffraction and scanning electron microscope, crystal and morphologic structures of cobalt particles were correlated with the reaction conditions of temperature, Co(NO3)2 concentration, and the alcohols used. By changing temperature and/or Co(NO3)2 concentration, pure hexagonal close-packed (hcp) cobalt or a mixture of hcp and face-centered cubic (fcc) cobalt was obtained. The catalytic performance of as-prepared cobalt nanocrystals for the thermal decomposition of ammonium perchlorate (AP) was evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry. The decomposition temperature of AP was significantly decreased, and the apparent decomposition heat was over doubled when 2 wt.% cobalt was added into AP. Among the samples tested, snowflake-like cobalt showed the best performance in the aspect of decreasing the decomposition temperature of AP while the ball-like cobalt exhibited the highest apparent decomposition heat.