Plasmonic electron deficient Cu2−xS semiconductor nanoparticles from cyclohexylamine-N-dithiocarbamate ligand

[Display omitted] •The formation of the cyclohexylamine-N-dithiocarbamate ligand and its copper complex.•The effect of the concentration of the capping molecule.•Electron deficient plasmonic copper sulfide nanoparticles. Cyclohexylamine-N-dithiocarbamate ligand was prepared and used to synthesize Cu complex [Cu(S2CNC6H12)2]. The effect of capping molecule was studied through the thermolysis of the precursor in hexadecylamine (HDA) and tri-octylphosphine-n-oxide (TOPO) to give HDA and TOPO-capped CuS nanoparticles by varying their concentrations. The absorption spectra showed localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) and quantum confinement effect for all samples. TEM micrographs displayed well-dispersed isotropic particles for the sample prepared at higher concentration of HDA and anisotropic particles for the sample prepared at lower concentration which was different with TOPO capped nanoparticles. The synthesized copper sulfide nanoparticles revealed hexagonal phase.