Site-Selective High-Resolution X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and High-Resolution X-ray Emission Spectroscopy of Cobalt Nanoparticles

The special (macroscopic) properties of nano-particles are mainly due to their large surface-to-volume ratio. Thus, the separate characterization of geometric and electronic properties of surface and bulk would be favorable for a better understanding of the properties of nanoparticles. Because of the chemical sensitivity of X-ray fluorescence lines, in particular those involving higher lying electronic states, high-resolution fluorescence-detected X-ray absorption spectra (HRFD-XAS) offer these opportunities. In this study, three types of wet-chemically synthesized Co nanoparticles, similar to 6 nm in diameter with varying thicknesses of a protective shell, were investigated at the ID26 beamline of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. HRFD-XAS spectra at the Co K-edge, that is, X-ray absorption near-edge structure (HRFD-XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (HRFD-EXAFS) spectra, were recorded via detection of the K beta(1,3) fluorescence at specific energies. As these spectra are only partly site-selective due to a strong overlap of the emission lines, a numerical procedure was applied based on a least-squares fitting procedure, realized by singular value decomposition. The detailed analysis of the obtained site-selective spectra, regarding chemical composition and crystallographic phase, using measured and simulated FEFF9-based reference spectra, showed that the metallic core had mainly hexagonal close-packed structure with lattice constants matching bulk Co; the spectra for the shell could be satisfactorily fitted by a mixture of CoO and CoCO3; however, with an obvious need for at least a third compound. To obtain additional information about ligands attached to Co, valence-to-core X-ray emission spectra (VTC-XES) using the K beta(2,5),5 and the satellite structure K beta and VTC-XANES spectra thereof were also recorded, by which the former results are confirmed. Further on, FEFF simulations indicate that a Co-N compound is a very likely candidate for the third component. The presented results clearly show that VTC-XES and HRFD-XAS are suitable tools for the detailed specification of the core and the surface of nanoparticles, in particular upon realizing real site-selectivity for XANES and EXAFS with a general strategy applicable to a wide range of systems.