Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 January 2016
The crystal structure and phase transformations of iron sulfide nanomaterialshave interesting properties that can be utilized in solar cells, biological andother applications. Iron (III) complexes piperidine (1) andtetrahydroquinoline (2) dithiocarbamate have been synthesized andsubsequently utilized as single source precursors for the preparation of ironsulfide nanoparticles by solvothermal and pyrolysis methods. The powder X-raydiffraction (p-XRD) studies gave crystalline information of the iron sulfidenanoparticles which were dependent on the reaction conditions. Only the greigitephase (Fe3S4) was obtained when the solvothermal methodwas used during the synthesis. The pyrolysis method gave a mixture of pyrite(FeS2) and pyrrhotite phases when complex (1) wasused while complex (2) gave pure pyrrhotite. Well interconnectedmicrostructures and nanoflakes-like structures were obtained by scanningelectron microscopy imaging. Furthermore, magnetic properties of theas-synthesized nanoparticles displayed ferromagnetic and antiferromagneticbehaviour, typical of greigite and pyrrhotite nanoparticles respectively. Adirect band gap of 2.70 eV was obtained according to optical absorptionstudies.