Supercritical fluid processing of functional oxide core-shell nanocable arrays

The ability to couple two or more materials, exhibiting distinct properties, into a single geometry, such as core-shell nanocables, may lead to the realisation of novel multifunctional materials for applications such as spin valve systems. We discuss in this paper the use of supercritical fluid inclusion techniques for the growth of cobalt/magnetite and magnetite/cobalt core/shell nanocables within the pores of anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) membranes. These nanowires exhibit tunable magnetic properties which are dominated by the core material.