Optical, structural characterization and dielectric relaxation of [C₂H₅NH₃]₂ZnCl₄ compound

ABSTRACT

The new organic-inorganic compound [C₂H₅NH₃]₂ZnCl₄ has been grown by the slow evaporation at room temperature. The zero-dimensional (0-D) structure for this compound was determined by the single X-ray diffraction. It crystallizes at room temperature in the non-centrosymmetric space group Pna2₁ and consists of ethylammonium cations [C₂H₅NH₃]⁺ and [ZnCl₄]²⁻ tetrahedra anions. That is interconnected by means of hydrogen bonding contacts N-H···Cl. The molecular geometry and vibrational frequencies of [ZnCl₄]²⁻ and [C₂H₅NH₃]⁺ in the ground state was calculated using density functional method (B3LYP) with 6–31G(d) and 6–311G (d,p) basis set. The optimized geometric bond lengths and bond angles, obtained by using B3LYP/6–311G (d,p), show the best agreement with the experimental data. The optical absorbance was measured in order to deduce the absorption coefficient α, optical band gap E_g. The optical band gap is determined by extrapolating the plotted graph of (αhυ)^1/2 vs. (hυ). The large value of indirect optical band gap energy indicates the insulating nature of this material. Moreover, the extinction coefficient, refractive index and the dielectric permittivity of [C₂H₅NH₃]₂ZnCl₄ compound were calculated and the results are discussed. The evolution of the dielectric loss as a function of frequency revealed a distribution of relaxation times, probably ascribed to the reorientational dynamics of alkyl chains in this compound, and then analyzed with the Cole–Cole formalism.

KEYWORDS:

• Optical obsorbance
• dielectric relaxation
• X-ray diffraction
• organic-inorganic material

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.