In situ thermal decomposition route: Preparation and characterization of nano nickel, cobalt, and copper oxides using an aromatic amine complexes as a low-cost simple precursor

The main interest now is the development of metallic or inorganic-organic compounds to prepare nanoparticle materials. The use of new compounds could be beneficial and open a new method for preparing nanomaterials to control the size, shape, and size of the nanocrystals. In this article, the thermal decomposition of [M2(o-tol)2(H2O)8]Cl4 (where o-tol is ortho-tolidine compound, M = Ni2+, Co2+, Cu2+) new precursor complex was discussed in solid-state conditions. The thermal decomposition route showed that the synthesized three complexes were easily decomposed into NiO, Co3O4 and CuO nanoparticles. This decomposition was performed at low temperatures (~600°C) in atmospheric air without using any expensive and toxic solvent or complicated equipment. The obtained product was identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). FT-IR, XRD and EDX analyses revealed that the NiO nanoparticles exhibit a face-centered-cubic lattice structure with a crystallite size of 9–12 nm. The formation of a highly pure spinel-type Co3O4 phase with cubic structure showed that the Co3O4 nanoparticles have a sphere-like morphology with an average size of 8–10 nm. The XRD patterns of the CuO confirmed that the monoclinic phase with the average diameter of the spherical nanoparticles was approximately 9–15 nm.