Good quality, highly monodispersed capped copper metal nanoparticles have been synthesised in a non-hydrolytic approach using thermal decomposition of the Cu(II) precursor [Cu(OCH(Me)CH 2 NMe 2 ) 2 ] in a hot coordinating solvent without further reducing agents; the copper nanoparticles have been characterised by optical spectroscopy (UV/VIS), electron microscopy (TEM), electron diffraction (SAED), and dynamic light scattering (DLS).

Investigations into replacing Me 2 Cd as a common precursor for the synthesis of CdSe nanoparticles by pyrolysis in a hot coordinating solvent have proven that more stable, less volatile or even crystalline organometallic cadmium compounds can be used instead of Me 2 Cd. Dineopentylcadmium, bis(3-diethylaminopropyl)cadmium and (2,2'-bipyridine)dimethylcadmium have been used successfully as cadmium sources for the preparation of tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO)-capped CdSe nanoparticles. The resulting nanocrystallites have been characterized by UV-VIS and IR spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL), mass spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). They consist of separated, well defined spherical particles and show a small size distribution as well as a characterisitic blue shift due to quantum confinement in their optical spectra. The replacement of Me 2 Cd by less dangerous organometallic precursors thus results in nanocrystallites that show no reduction in quality when compared to the standard method.

We present a synthetic approach toward alloyed Cu/Zn nanoparticles using [Cu(OCH(Me)CH2NMe2)2] and Et2Zn as precursors. The thermolysis in the hot coordinating solvent hexadecylamine, HDA, leads to the formation of nanoscale, colloidal Cu/Zn systems with zinc contents (by EDX) of 5, 30, and 65%, respectively. All systems have been analyzed using UV/Vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, EDX, and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). These analytical data suggest that alloying between zinc and copper takes place, revealing crystalline phases of CuZn and CuZn2 besides Cu as components of the particles in the case of higher zinc concentrations. The characteristic surface plasmon resonance (UV) for pure HDA-capped copper colloids at 558 nm, still observed for copper-rich alloy particles, disappears for zinc-rich particles.

We present the temperature-dependent thermolysis of siloxy-substituted ZnO single-source precursors into zinc and zinc oxide, respectively. The solid-state pyrolysis at low temperatures leads to the formation of ZnO powder with a very high surface area whereas the thermolysis in solution yields ZnO colloids. The materials are characterized by UV/VIS, photoluminescence, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM).

The IR spectroscopic investigation of both the adsorption of carbon monoxide and the interaction of oxygen and CO on the surface of copper colloids is described for the first time. The copper colloids were produced by pyrolysis of [Cu(OCH(Me)CH(2)NMe(2))(2)] in hot n-hexadecylamine. Upon contact to synthetic air Cu/Cu(x)O core-shell particles are formed. The treatment of these particles with CO results in the reestablishment of pure Cu(0) particles. These results demonstrate that small molecules penetrate the ligand shell of the nanoparticles and reversibly adsorb at the surface without affecting the particle morphology and size distribution.

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This paper describes the preparation and characterization of a novel ion‐conducting polymeric material (2). The backbone consists of alternating alkenylidene and sulfanylidene units with adjacent hydroxy groups. Fitting of the experimental impedance data of 2 in a Bode plot reveals a conductivity of 6.6 × 10−2 S · cm−1 and a capacitance of 2.2 × 10−5 F at room temperature. The deuterated derivative of 2 shows significantly lower conductivity, suggesting that the conductivity of 2 can be attributed to proton migration.Bode plot of fresh 2; experimental vs simulated; equivalent circuit (R(RQ)).magnified imageBode plot of fresh 2; experimental vs simulated; equivalent circuit (R(RQ)).