Effect of relative-stoichiometry on the shape and catalytic properties of cobalt antimonide (CoSb)

This article presents a report regarding the low cost synthesis of highly crystalline single phase CoSb nanoparticles of different morphology. Shape control without the presence of any reducing/capping agent makes the work interesting, as it was only the variation in stoichiometry which played the game. It was observed that off-stoichiometry makes the conditions favorable for the growth of one dimensional structure. A hypothetical explanation regarding the diffusion based growth mechanism is also proposed in the discussions. However, the catalytic performance observed for the dimensional structures was not much impressive, which was understood in terms of the residual solvent content that remained adsorbed on the surface of the nanoparticles. The approach employed here is also expected to yield similar control over the morphology of other intermetallic compounds also.