dinuclear cadmium (ii) schiff base complex: synthesis, crystal structure, spectroscopic characterization and application as a new precursor for preparation of nano-cadmium oxide

A novel cadmium (ii) nano-complex, [cd(etoh)(hl)(no3)]2 (1), (h2l = 2-[(2-hydroxy-propylimino) methyl] phenol) was synthesized by solvothermal and sonochemical methods. the new nanostructure was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (sem), x-ray powder diffraction, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and uv–vis spectroscopy. single crystalline of compound 1 was obtained using a branch tube method. the determination of the structure by single-crystal x-ray crystallography shows that the complex is a centrosymmetric dimer in which deprotonated phenolates bridge the two seven-coordinate metal atoms and link the two halves of the dimer. the luminescent properties of the complex 1 were examined and compared with the free ligand. the thermal stability of nano-complex 1 was analyzed by thermal gravimetric analysis. furthermore, the effect of the initial substrates concentration on size and morphology of compound 1 nanostructure was investigated in sonochemical method. after the solid-state transformation of compound 1 at 650 °c in air, pure-phase nano-sized cadmium (ii) oxide was produced. the morphology and size of the prepared cdo samples were further observed using tem and sem. investigation of the optical properties of the produced cadmium oxide, using uv–vis spectroscopy, confirmed its semiconducting properties by revealing optical band gap at 2.93 ev. a blue shift is observed in the band gap when compared with bulk sample which is due to the quantum size effect.