Thermal decomposition of Pr[(C5H8NS2)3(C12H8N2)]

The thermal behavior of the complex Pr[(C5H8NS2)(3)(C12H8N2)] in a dry nitrogen flow was examined by TG-DTG analysis. The TG-DTG investigations indicated that Pr[(C5H8NS2)(3)(C12H8N2)] was decomposed into Pr2S3 and deposited carbon in one step where Pr2S3 predominated in the final products. The results of non-isothermal kinetic calculations showed that the decomposition stage was the random nucleation and subsequent growth mechanism (n = 2/3), the corresponding apparent activation energy E was 115.89 kJ center dot mol(-1) and the pre-exponential constant ln[A/s] was 7.8697. The empirical kinetics model equation was proposed as f (alpha) = (3)/(2) (1-alpha)[-1n(1-alpha)](1)/(3). The X-ray powder diffraction patterns of the thermal decomposition products at 800 degrees C under N-2 atmosphere show that the product can be indexed to the cubic Pr2S3 phase. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of the final product reveals the particle appearance of a diameter within 40 nm. The experimental results show that the praseodymium sulfide nanocrystal can be prepared from thermal decomposition of Pr[(C5H8NS2)(3)(C12H8N2)].