Autocatalytic redox fabrication and magnetic studies of Co–Ni–P alloy nanowire arrays

Uniform and large-scale Co–Ni–P alloy nanowire arrays have been fabricated by autocatalytic redox reaction in an anodic alumina membrane (AAM). The images of Co–Ni–P alloy nanowire arrays and single nanowires are obtained by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM), respectively. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectra (EDS) are employed to study the morphology and chemical composition of the nanowires. The results indicate that the Co–Ni–P nanowire arrays are amorphous in structure. The magnetic property of Co–Ni–P nanowire arrays is characterized using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The hysteresis loops show that the easily magnetized direction of Co–Ni–P nanowire arrays is parallel to the nanowire arrays and that it has obvious magnetic anisotropy as a result of the shape anisotropy.