In my diploma thesis I investigated the influence of elevated temperature and drying conditions on the synthesis of potassium bis(oxalato)cuprate(II) dihydrate, which belongs to the group of coordination compounds. The oxalate ligands are linked to the copper ion by a chelating bond. The synthesised products were characterised by thermal analysis (TGA, DSC), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and optical microscopy (OM).
Thermal analysis was used to determine the temperatures and decomposition fractions of the synthesised compound K2[Cu(C2O4)2]·2H2O. When comparing the thermogravimetric curves, I found that there were no significant differences between the samples dried at 50 °C and 70 °C. The thermogravimetric curves of the samples dried at 50 °C and 70 °C were compared with those of the samples dried at 70 °C. The thermogravimetric curves were compared with those of the samples dried at 50 °C. For all samples up to 180 °C, I observe an almost equal mass loss both in the first stage, when the bound water is removed, and in the next stage, when the compound decomposes to carbonate. The mass fraction of water corresponds to 2 bound water molecules.
The typical absorption peaks of the analysed samples were determined using infrared spectroscopy. The shapes and positions of the absorption peaks of all spectra of the analysed samples were very similar, which is why I assume that all synthesised samples are the same compound. I could not find any significant differences indicating the influence of drying of the products, i.e. in the range of absorption of the O‒H bond.
Using X-ray powder diffraction, I found that the shapes of the diffraction peaks were reproducible and also very similar in intensity. All samples showed a high percentage match with the K2[Cu(C2O4)2]·2H2O (PDF 000-52-0716) in the Crystallographica Search-Match database.
Using optical microscopy, I found that the drying temperature of the synthesised compound in the oven affects the shape of the particles. The rod-shaped crystals are largest and clearest in the sample dried at 70 °C, the highest drying temperature.
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