Applied magnetic field rejects the coating of ferromagnetic carbon from the surface of ferromagnetic cobalt: RAPET of CoZr2(acac)2(OiPr)8.

We present the results of the RAPET (reaction under autogenic pressure at elevated temperatures) dissociation of CoZr(2)(acac)(2)(O(i)Pr)(8) at 700 degrees C in a closed Swagelok cell under an applied magnetic field of 10 T. It produces a mixture of carbon-coated and noncoated metastable ZrO(2) nanoparticles, bare metallic Co nanoparticles, and bare carbon. The same reaction in the absence of a magnetic field produces spherical Co and ZrO(2) particles in sizes ranging from 11 to 16 nm and exhibiting, at room temperature, metastable phases: fcc for cobalt and a tetragonal phase for zirconia. The metastable phases of Co and ZrO(2) are manifested because of a carbon shell of approximately 4 nm thickness anchored to their surfaces. The effect of an applied magnetic field to synthesize morphologically different, but structurally the same, products is the key topic of the present paper.