Synthesis of Isostructural Cage Complexes of Copper with Cobalt and Nickel for Deposition of Mixed Ceramic Oxide Materials

Heterobimetallic molecular precursors [Co2(acac)2(μ-OH)2Cu4(dmae)4Cl4] (2) and [Ni2(acac)2(μ-OH)2Cu4(dmae)4Cl4] (3) [dmaeH = N,N-dimethylaminoethanol and acac = 2,4-pentanedionate] for the deposition of mixed oxide
thin films were prepared by the interaction of tetrameric N,N-dimethylaminoethanolato copper(II) chloride, [Cu(dmae)Cl]4 (1) with M(acac)2·xH2O, [M = Co, Ni] in toluene. Both heterobimetallic cage complexes were characterized
by melting point, elemental analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, magnetometery, and single-crystal
X-ray diffraction. Complexes 2 and 3 are isostructural and crystallize in the monoclinic space group P21/n. A TGA
study shows that both complexes undergo controlled thermal decomposition at 450 °C to give mixed metal oxides.
Solid-state infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray analysis
(EDX), and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) analysis were performed to analyze the chemical composition and
surface morphology of the deposited oxide thin films. The results obtained indicate the formation of impurity-free
crystalline mixed oxide films with particle sizes ranging from 0.55 to 2.0 μm.