Hirshfeld surface analyses, NCI–RDG and effect of surfactant on the size of Co3O4 nanostructures obtained from cobalt(II) nano-complex

Abstract

Nanostructures of the compound [Co(O2CCH3)2(2-apy)2] (1) (2-apy = 2-Aminopyridine) have been synthesized by a sonochemical process at different of concentrations cobalt acetate tetrahydrate and 2-aminopyridine ligand. The smallest nanostructures of compound 1 are produced in low concentrations of initial reagents. Co3O4 nanoparticles were prepared from thermal decomposition in oleic acid as a surfactant and direct calcination of compound 1 at different temperatures. The effect of calcination temperature and oleic acid, as a surfactant, was investigated on the particle size distribution of the products. The compounds were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), UV–vis, FT-IR spectroscopy, thermal analyses (TGA and DTA) and elemental analyses. Hirshfeld surface analyses and Noncovalent interaction reduced density gradient (NCI-RDG) calculations of compound 1 were illustrated and discussed in order to quantify the order and nature of intermolecular interactions in the crystal network. Hirshfeld surface analysis indicated that there are other types of intermolecular contacts in Crystal, including H…H, H…O, C…H, H…N, C…C and C…N interactions, and the contributions of these interactions are 55.4%, 19.7%, 19.2%, 4.1%, 1.4% and 0.2%, respectively.