Synthesis, spectroscopic, solid-state electrical conductivity, and thermal analysis of Cu(II) doped Zn(II) heterobimetallic complexes derived from 2,5-dichloro-3,6-bis-(methylamino)1,4-benzoquinone

The monometallic and heterobimetallic complexes of the type of [M(L).yH2O]n and [MxMꞋ1−x(L).yH2O]n {where L = 2,5-dichloro-3,6-bis-(methylamino)-[1,4]benzoquinone; x = 1(2), 0.5(4), 0.25(5), 0.125(6), 0.0625(7) and 0(3); y = 1–2, n = degree of polymerization} is composed and characterized by different physical and chemical methods namely CHN analysis, atomic absorption spectroscopic, magnetic resonance, X-ray powder diffraction, IR, UV–visible, thermal analysis ( DSC & TG / DTA) and EPR spectroscopy. Complexes are insoluble in common natural solvents that reflect their polymeric structure. All metal complexes are paramagnetic except for the diamagnetic monometallic complex of Zn (II). Many of the peaks in the PXRD powder analysis reveal the crystalline nature of the metal complexes. The temperature-dependent (313–393 K) electrical conductivity and energy of activation have been calculated from the plot of ln σ versus 1ˣ10-3ˣ1/T illustrating their semiconducting nature except for Cu(II) monometallic complex with bandgap order within the range of 0.72–1.16 eV. Thermally the complexes are stable up to 180 °C, decomposed in 3–5 major steps in their respective metal oxide are proved to be CuO by PXRD showing peaks at 2 θ values are matched with the given value of CuO.