Morphology of Cobalt Oxalate Powders Prepared with Pulsed Electromagnetic Field

Abstract

The spindle or spherical cobalt oxalate powders were prepared by conventional precipitation in the presence of pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF). The morphology and phase structure were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The aspect ratio and surface fractal dimension of cobalt oxalate aggregate were calculated using Image tool software and Differential Box Counting (DBC) algorithm. The results indicate that the products prepared from ammonium oxalate and cobalt chloride give rise to the formation of β-CoC2O4∙2H2O. With the increase of pulsed time, the morphology of cobalt oxalate sample varies periodically from rod-like to spheroidic. For the sample treated for 60 s, the degree of sphericity is the highest. The surface fractal dimension is 2.096 and the corresponding fractal form is tight type.