Cardiff University | Prifysgol Caerdydd ORCA
Online Research @ Cardiff 
WelshClear Cookie - decide language by browser settings

Fe(II) and Fe(III) dithiocarbamate complexes as single source precursors to nanoscale iron sulfides: A combined synthetic and in-situ XAS approach

Hogarth, Graeme, Hollingsworth, Nathan, Islam, Husn, Bras, Wim, De Leeuw, Nora Henriette ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8271-0545, Roffey, Anna and Sankar, Gopinathan 2019. Fe(II) and Fe(III) dithiocarbamate complexes as single source precursors to nanoscale iron sulfides: A combined synthetic and in-situ XAS approach. Nanoscale Advances 1 (8) , pp. 2965-2978. 10.1039/C9NA00262F

[thumbnail of c9na00262f.pdf]
Preview
PDF - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.

Download (2MB) | Preview
License URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
License Start date: 5 June 2019

Abstract

Nanoparticulate iron sulfides have many potential applications and are also proposed to be prebiotic catalysts for the reduction of CO2 to biologically important molecules, thus the development of reliable routes to specific phases with controlled sizes and morphologies is important. Here we focus on the use of iron dithiocarbamate complexes as single source precursors (SSPs) to generate greigite and pyrrhotite nanoparticles. Since these minerals contain both iron(III) and iron(II) centres, SSPs in both oxidation stateshave been utilised. Use of Fe(CO)2(S2CNR2)2is novel and it readily loses both carbonyls in a single step providing an in situ source of the extremely air-sensitive [Fe(S2CNR2)2]. Decomposition of [Fe(S2CNR2)3] alone in oleylamine affords pyrrhotite, although by careful control of reaction conditions a window exists in which pure greigite nanoparticles can be isolated. With cis-[Fe(CO)2(S2CNR2)2] we were unable to produce pure greigite, with pyrrhotite formation dominating, a similar situation being found with mixtures of Fe(II) and Fe(III) precursors. In-situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) studies showed that heating [Fe(S2CNiBu2)3] in oleylamine resulted in amine coordination and, at ca. 60 oC, reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II) with (proposed) elimination of thiuram disulfide (S2CNR2)2. We thus carried out a series of decomposition studies with added thiuram disulfide (R = iBu) and found that addition of 1-2 equivalents led to the formation of pure greigite nanoparticles between 230-280 oC with low SSP concentrations. Average particle size does not vary significantly with increasing concentration, thus providing a convenient route to ca. 40 nm greigite nanoparticles. In-situ XAS studies have been carried out and allow a decomposition pathway for [Fe(S2CNiBu2)3] in oleylamine to be established; reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II) reduction triggers substitution of the secondary amide backbone by oleylamine (RNH2) resulting in the in situ formation of a primary dithiocarbamate derivative [Fe(RNH2)2(S2CNHR)2]. This in turn extrudes RNCS to afford molecular precursors of the observed FeS nanomaterials. The precise role of thiuram disulfide in the decomposition process is unknown, but it likely plays a part in controlling the Fe(III)-Fe(II) equilibrium and may also act as a source of sulfur allowing control over the Fe:S ratio in the mineral products.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Chemistry
Cardiff Catalysis Institute (CCI)
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
ISSN: 2516-0230
Funders: EPSRC, Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), ESRF
Date of First Compliant Deposit: 12 June 2019
Date of Acceptance: 5 June 2019
Last Modified: 03 May 2023 21:07
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/123410

Citation Data

Cited 13 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item Edit Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics