Heterocyclic lead(II) thioureato complexes as single-source precursors for the aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition of PbS thin films

The lead N’-benzoylthioureato complexes of N-morpholine (1) and N-pyrrolidine (2) were synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR) spectroscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H nmr) and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA). The X-ray single crystal structure of complex (1) was determined. The compounds were both used as single source precursors to deposit PbS films on glass substrates at 350, 400 and 450 °C using aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) The surface morphology of PbS films were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the crystalline phases established by powder X-ray diffraction (p-XRD) analyses and composition by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The particle sizes were found to range between 82 and 85 nm from complex (1) and 70–105 nm for (2) The PbS films were studied by Near Infra-red (NIR) UV–Vis spectroscopy, band gap ranging from 1.46 to 1.55 eV were observed.