Self-assembly and Nano scaled Ni (II) Coordination Complex as an Efficient Catalyst and Luminescent Sensor

Design of the structure of nanosized photo-catalysts is an interesting research area to achieve high performance of their catalytic property. Nano-scaled single crystals of {[Ni(EN)4(NCS)2]} coordination complex (EN = ethyl nicotinate), CC1 and the nano-sized particles, CC1\ are synthesized by self-assembly and ultrasonic radiation methods, respectively. The structure comprises two crystallographically different and chemically identical Ni atoms adopting [NiN6] octahedron geometry. The structure of CC1 propagates via 1D-zegzag chains which extend in 3D- fashion via strong H-bonds. The chemical structure and morphology of CC1 and CC1\ are characterized by single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and spectroscopic methods. The heterogeneous catalytic and photo-catalytic activity of CC1 and CC1\ exhibit very efficient catalytic activity towards degradation of indigo carmine dye (IC) within very short times under UV-light or ultrasonic radiation. The good limit of detection and the high quenching efficiency of CC1 towards selective quantitative fdetermination of nitrobenzene (NB) and Fe3+ ions support its behavior as an efficient luminescent sensor.