Green Synthesis and Characterization of Zinc Pyridine-2,6-Dicarboxylate Complex and Preparation of Nano-ZnO by Thermal Decomposition

A complex [Zn(Hpda)2]•2H2O of pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (H2pda) was synthesized by a green chemistry approach, namely, room-temperature solid state reaction. The complex was characterized by elemental analyses, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), single crystal X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC). The PXRD result confirmed that the unpurified powder complex was single phase. The crystal structure of the complex belonged to monoclinic system with space group P21/c, and the Zn(II) ion was hexacoordinated by four O atoms and two N atoms. The thermal decomposition of the complex was investigated and the nano-ZnO particles were prepared by pyrolysis of the unpurified powder complex as the precursor. The ZnO particle obtained by pyrolysis at 500 °C was characterized by PXRD and scanning electron microscope (SEM), and its average diameter was about 40 nm.