Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 June 2011
Core-shell magnetic nanoparticles (CSNPs) composed of a ferrimagnetic core (CoFe2O4) embedded in an antiferromagnetic shell (CoO) were produced using seed mediated growth in a polyol. Different core sizes and shell thicknesses were considered. The structural and magnetic properties of assemblies of these nanoparticles were characterized by means of X-ray Diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy, dc-magnetometry (SQUID) and 57Fe Mössbauer spectrometry. The measured EB magnetic field values, at low temperature, are found to be weak whatever the microstructural characteristics of the studied CSMNPs. Simultaneously, both the magnetization and the interparticle interaction (mainly dipolar) appear clearly reduced when the shell thickness increases.