On magnetism of nickel clusters in nanoporous carbon

The structural and magnetometric characteristics of a nanoporous carbon with nickel clusters in nanopores have been studied. The main attention is focused on the fact of substantial decrease in the nickel magnetization as nickel has a close contact to carbon as compared to similar parameter of free nickel microparticles with almost the same sizes. A theoretical model of a periodic cluster consisting of 16 carbon atoms and one nickel atom in a micropore surrounded by carbon atoms has been built. The electron density in such a cluster and its magnetism were found by computer calculations. It is shown that the magnetic moment of a nickel atom in the cluster is substantially smaller than that of a free nickel atom. Based on the results, it is concluded that the decrease in the magnetization of nickel clusters in the carbon environment observed experimentally is due to the adsorption interaction of the nickel and carbon electron subsystems.