Synthesis and characterization of different zinc(II) oxide nano-structures from two new zinc(II)–Quinoxaline coordination polymers

•Two new one-dimensional zinc(II) coordination polymers have been synthesized by slow evaporation method.•Nano crystalline ZnO have successfully been synthesized via techniques of thermolyses.•The final product was characterized using XRD and SEM methods.•The same precursors to prepare ZnO nanostructure with different techniques gave us various morphologies.

Two new zinc(II) coordination polymers, [Zn(Quinoxaline)(NO3)2(H2O)2]n⋅Quinoxaline·H2O (1) and [Zn(Quinoxaline)2(Br)2]n (2), Quinoxaline = Benzopyrazine, have been synthesized and characterized by IR spectroscopy. Compounds 1 and 2 were structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction and are one-dimensional coordination polymers with coordination environment of octahedral and tetrahedral respectively. Nanostructures of zinc(II) oxide were obtained by thermolyses of compound 1 in oleic acid, calcination of compound 1 at 500 °C under air atmosphere and sol–gel processes. Also, nanopowders of zinc(II) oxide were obtained by calcination of compound 2 at 450 and 550 °C. The nanomaterials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). The thermal stability of compounds 1 and 2 both their bulk were studied by thermo-gravimetric (TGA) and differential thermal analyses (DTA). This study demonstrates the coordination polymers may be suitable precursors for the preparation of nanoscale materials.