Cadmium (II) pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate complex as single source precursor for the preparation of CdS nanocrystals by microwave irradiation and conventional heating process

The complex of cadmium with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate Cd(pdtc)2 has been used as single source precursor for the synthesis of CdS nanoparticles. The formation of CdS nanostructures was achieved by thermal decomposition of the complex under microwave irradiation and conventional heating in presence of hexadecylamine. The CdS nanoparticles with disordered close-packed structure were obtained under microwave irradiation, whereas wurtzite hexagonal phase CdS nanorods were obtained by conventional heating method (up to 150 °C). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) studies also were carried out to study the structure and morphology of nanoparticles. The optical property of the CdS nanoparticles was studied by UV–visible and fluorescence emission spectral studies. Fluorescence measurements on the CdS nanoparticles show a strong emission spectrum with two sub bands that are attributed to band-edge and surface-defect emissions. The reduction of a suitable cadmium metal complex is considered to be one of the single pot methods to generate CdS semiconductor nanoparticles with different shapes and high yield.