Synthesis, characterization and crystal structure of cadmium(II) nano coordination compound: A precursor to produce nanosized cadmium oxide and cadmium iodide

In this research, a cadmium(II) nano coordination compound, [Cd(dmph)I2] (1), {dmph= 2,9dimethyl1,10phenanthroline (neocuproine)}, was synthesized by sonochemical method from cadmium(II) acetate, KI and the neocuproine ligand. The nanostructure (1) was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Xray powder diffraction (XRD), elemental analyses and IR spectroscopy. The compound 1 was structurally characterized by single crystal Xray diffraction and showed that Cd(II) ion is fourcoordinated in a distorted tetrahedral configuration with two N atoms from a neocuproine ligand and two terminal iodine atoms. The thermal stability of compound 1 both in its bulk form and nanosize form had been studied by thermal gravimetric (TG) and differential thermal analyses (DTA) for comparsion with each other. Pure phase CdO and CdI2 nanoparticles were prepared by calcination of compound 1 at 700 °C under air atmosphere and hydrothermal processing from the same compound at 150 °C for 48 h, respectively. The morphology and phase of the prepared samples were further studied using SEM and XRD. The sonochemical method resulted in a significant reduction of reaction time, reaction temperature and particle sizes of the products.