Sonochemical synthesis and characterization of three nano zinc(II) coordination polymers; Precursors for preparation of zinc(II) oxide nanoparticles

• Three zinc(II) coordination polymers have been synthesized with sonochemistry method.
• Zinc(II) oxide nano-particles have been synthesized from thermolysis of compound 1–3.
• SEM comparison shows that higher temperature results in an increasing of agglomeration.
• Best ZnO particles were produced by thermolysis at 200 °C by use of surfactant.

Nanostructures of three Zinc(II) coordination polymers, [Zn(NNO)2(H2O)4]n (1), [Zn(PNNO)2(H2O)2]n (2) and [Zn(H2O)6]·(INNO)2 (3) {NNO: Nicotinic acid N-oxide, PNNO: Picolinic acid N-oxide and INNO: Isonicotinic acid N-oxide}, have been synthesized by a sonochemical process and reaction of ligands with Zn(CH3COO)2. The Zinc(II) oxide nano-particles have been synthesized from thermolysis of [Zn(NNO)2(H2O)4]n (1), [Zn(PNNO)2(H2O)2]n (2) and [Zn(H2O)6]·(INNO)2 (3) at two different methods (with surfactant and without surfactant) and two temperatures (200 and 600 °C). The ZnO nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Comparison of the SEM images of ZnO nano-particles at two different methods and temperatures shows that higher temperature results in an increasing of agglomeration and thus small and spherical ZnO particles with good separation were produced by thermolysis of compounds at 200 °C and by use of surfactant.