Synthesis and characterisation of zinc and cadmium thiosemicarbazones: potential precursors for nano sized metal oxides/sulphides

Abstract

We report the synthesis and characterisation of thiosemicarbazones of Zinc and Cadmium, general formula MCl2.LH (1–8) {Where M = Zn or Cd; L = C11H17N3S, C11H21N3S}. They have been characterised by elemental analyses, FT-NMR (1H, 13C), FT-IR and ESI-Mass spectral studies. Sol-gel transformations of two of the representative compounds (2 and 6) yielded ZnO (A) and CdO (B), respectively. Surprisingly, solvothermal transformation of both of these compounds yielded ZnS (C) and CdS (D) without using any suphonating agent. The XRD pattern of synthesised materials suggested crystalline or amorphous nature of the samples with the particle size ZnO (10 nm), CdO (14 nm), ZnS (12 nm) and CdS (28 nm). Surface morphologies were investigated by SEM images. Absorption spectra of the materials show the band gap 3.75 eV, 2.95 eV, 3.8 eV and 3.0 eV for ZnO, CdO, ZnS and CdS, respectively. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.