Synthesis ZnO nanoparticles from a new Zinc(II) coordination polymer precursor

A new zinc(II) nitrite coordination polymer, [Zn(3-bpdh)(NO2)2]n (1), 3-bpdh = 2,5-bis(3-pyridyl)-3,4-diaza-2,4-hexadiene} was prepared and characterized by elemental analyses and IR spectroscopy. Compound 1 was structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and is one-dimensional polymer with coordination environment of distorted octahedral, ZnN2O4. Thermal decomposition of this precursor in oleic acid at 240 °C under air atmosphere results in the formation of nanoparticles of ZnO. The nano-materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and IR spectroscopy. The thermal stability of nano-structure ZnO was studied by thermal gravimetric and differential thermal analyses and showed that there is no reportable loss of weight in the TGA curves that proves the existence of zinc(II) oxide. This study demonstrates the coordination polymers may be suitable precursors for the preparation of nanoscale materials.