title: Synthesis of isostructural cage complexes of copper with cobalt and nickel for deposition of mixed ceramic oxide materials.
abstract: Heterobimetallic molecular precursors [Co2(acac)2mu-OH)2Cu4(dmae)4Cl4] (2) and [Ni2(acac)2(mu-OH)2Cu4(dmae)4Cl4] (3) [dmaeH = N,N-dimethylaminoethanol and acac = 2,4-pentanedionate] for the deposition of mixed oxide thin films were prepared by the interaction of tetrameric N,N-dimethylaminoethanolato copper(II) chloride, [Cu(dmae)Cl]4 (1) with M(acac)2.xH2O, [M = Co, Ni] in toluene. Both heterobimetallic cage complexes were characterized by melting point, elemental analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, magnetometery, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Complexes 2 and 3 are isostructural and crystallize in the monoclinic space group P21/n. A TGA study shows that both complexes undergo controlled thermal decomposition at 450 degrees C to give mixed metal oxides. Solid-state infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis were performed to analyze the chemical composition and surface morphology of the deposited oxide thin films. The results obtained indicate the formation of impurity-free crystalline mixed oxide films with particle sizes ranging from 0.55 to 2.0 microm.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan. mazhar42pk@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Mazhar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamid
authors.forename: Asif A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Tahir
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazhar
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zeller
authors.forename: Kieran C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Molloy
authors.forename: Allen D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Hunter