Crystal structure, Hirshfeld surface analysis, conduction mechanism and electrical modulus study of the new organic–inorganic compound [C8H10NO]2HgBr4

Abstract

There has been a lot of interest in the development of a novel hybrid material based on mercury that has fascinating structural properties. In this paper, single crystals of [C₈H₁₀NO]₂HgBr₄ was successfully synthesized by the slow evaporation method at room temperature. In fact, the latter crystallizes in the orthorhombic system (Cmca space group) with cell parameters a = 20.824(2) Å, b = 15.352(1) Å and c = 13.700(1) Å and Z = 8. Its structure is constituted by one [C₈H₁₀NO]⁺ cation and one type of isolated anion [HgBr₄]²⁻ tetrabromomercurate(II). The atomic arrangement presents an alternation of organic and inorganic layers along the a-axis. To maintain the cohesiveness of the structure, these components are joined via π⋯π interactions and hydrogen bonds (N–H⋯Br and N–H⋯O). A general network of hydrogen bonds ensures the interconnection of several entities. Greater knowledge of these interactions has been obtained based on the Hirshfeld surface analysis and 2D fingerprint plots. The analysis of complex impedance spectra shows that the electrical properties of the material are heavily dependent on frequency and temperature. The obtained results were analyzed by fitting the experimental data to an equivalent circuit model. The temperature dependence of conductivity and the relaxation frequency ω_max fulfill the Arrhenius relation and activation energies are estimated. The material follows Jonscher's universal dynamic law or here there is a decrease in the exponent ‘s’ as the temperature increases. This result indicates that the Correlated Barrier Hopping (CBH) model represents the conduction mechanism. Besides, the non-Debye type conductivity relaxation is revealed by the electrical modulus analysis.