The Effects of Temperature on Iron Sulfide Nanocrystals Prepared from Thermal Decomposition of Bis-(N-methylbenzyldithiocarbamato)iron(II) Complex

Bis-(N-methylbenzyldithiocarbamato)iron(II) complex was thermolyzed at 120, 180 and 240 degrees C to investigate the effects of temperature on the structural and optical properties of the as-prepared iron sulfide nanocrystals. Powder X-ray diffraction studies revealed a pyrrhotite-4M (Fe7S8) crystalline phase for iron sulfide nanocrystals (FeS1) obtained at 120 degrees C and pyrrhotite-6C (Fe11S12) phases for iron sulfide nanocrystals (FeS2 and FeS3) obtained at 180 and 240 degrees C. HRTEM images confirmed the crystallite sizes of the iron sulfide nanoparticles are in the range 2.04-4.77 for FeS1 obtained at 120 degrees C, 4.82-11.12 for FeS2 obtained at 180 degrees C and 6.50-12.39 nm for FeS3 iron sulfide nanocrystals obtained at 240 degrees C. These results confirmed that increase in temperature resulted in the formation of iron sulfide nanocrystals with larger diameter. The optical band gaps (E-g) of the iron sulfide nanocrystals are in the range 3.70-3.76 eV. The iron sulfide nanocrystals were incorporated into hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) matrix to prepare iron sulfide/HEC nanocomposites.