Nanostructured NixCo100−x films were deposited on Cu substrates by reducing the constituent metal salts in refluxing ethylene glycol at 194 °C. The average crystallite size increased with x, and reached a maximum of 64 nm when x=100. The coercivity Hc of the films measured in the direction perpendicular (⊥) to the plane of the film was higher than that in the parallel (∥) direction. For the sample of x=50, Hc⊥ was 379 Oe, which was six times that of Hc∥. Saturation magnetization Ms in the film plane was 1016 emu/cm3, and the remanent magnetization Mr 636 emu/cm3, giving a squareness ratio of 0.63. This film also had a Vickers hardness of 193.

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Determination of water in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate has been carried out using both electrochemical and infrared spectroscopic methods. At platinum electrodes, voltammetric responses for water oxidation and reduction have been used to prepare calibration curves. It has been found that the water oxidation current at +2.4V vs Ag/AgCl is suitable for water determination to at least 40 mM. Infrared spectroscopy of water in quartz cells in the OH stretching region revealed an IR feature at 3550 cm -1 for water additions to 20 mM, with another feature at 3650 cm -1 appearing at higher water concentrations. For the lowfrequency feature, a calibration curve is linear to 14 mM. Both electrochemical and IR methods provide a lower limit of detection of approximately 1 mM water in this ionic liquid.