Thermolysis characteristics of salts of o-phthalic acid with the formation of Fe, Co, Ni, Cu metal particles

Studies of the thermolysis of ortho-[Ni(H 2 O) 2 (C 8 H 4 O 4 )](H 2 O) 2 , [Cu(H 2 O)(C 8 H 4 O 4 )], and acid [M(H 2 O) 6 ](C 8 H 5 O 4 ) 2 (M(II) = Fe(II), Co(II), and Ni(II)), [Cu(H 2 O) 2 (C 8 H 5 O 4 ) 2 ] phthalates reveal that the solid products of their decomposition are composites with nanoparticles embedded in carbon–polymer matrices. Metallic nanoparticles with oxide nanoparticle impurities are detected in iron/cobalt polymer composites, while nickel/copper composites are composed of only metallic particles. It is found that nickel nanoparticles with the diameters of 6–8 nm are covered with disordered graphene layers, while the copperbased composite matrix contains spherical conglomerates (50–200 nm) with numerous spherical Cu particles (5–10 nm).