Structural and optical properties of inorganic–organic hybrid material of acetanilide tetrachloromercurate(II)

Abstract

The crystal growth of acetanilide tetrachloromercurate(II), an inorganic–organic hybrid derivative has been achieved by solution growth through slow cooling method. The X-ray diffraction structural analysis of the hybrid material results that the compound exist in orthorhombic space group P2₁2₁2₁ with lattice parameters; a = 13.111(2) Ǻ, b = 11.311(2) Ǻ, c = 8.355(6) Ǻ, α = β = γ = 90° and unit cell volume = 1436.24 Ǻ³. The fourier transform infrared spectroscopy profile shows that the C–C and C–N stretching modes of acetanilide ring and the observed spectra falls in mid-infrared range υ(526–2850) cm⁻¹. The field emission scanning electron microscope image confirms that the hybrid material has a prismatic shape with an average granular size of ~25 nm. The energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyzes the elemental proportions of the hybrid materials. Transmission electron microscopy image shows the narrow distribution of nano-spatial agglomeration of secondary interactions in inorganic–organic particles. The optical band gap (Eg = 3.75 eV) as calculated by linear fit profile of Tauc plot for allowed transition predicts that the hybrid material has potential applications in solar cells, electronic and opto-electronic devices.