Sonolysis induced decomposition of metal carbonyls: Kinetics and product characterization

The decomposition kinetics of Fe(CO)₅ and Mo(CO)₆ induced by sonolysis in hexadecane solvent was studied as a function of temperature (303-343 K) under an inert atmosphere. The decomposition data, obtained over at least two half lives in most of the runs, yielded first-order rate constant (k) values with correlation co-efficient (R²)>0.95. The products were characterized by various spectroscopic techniques. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) yielded images from which the mean particle diameter (MPD) of ∼10 nm for Fe and <3 nm for Mo were estimated. The generation of amorphous Fe and semi-crystalline Mo particles was determined from line broadening and corresponding d-spacing values in the X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectra. The XAFS/XANES data were consistent with the production of Fe(0) metal but carbided Mo (Mo₂C). The one-step production of high-yield pyrophoric products demonstrated the applicability of sonolysis to effectively produce gram-quantity of zero-valent metals.