[NiCl2(C14H12N2)(H2O)] complex has been synthesized from nickel
chloride hexahydrate (NiCl2·6H2O) and 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline (dmphen) as
N,N-bidentate ligand. The synthesized complex was characterized by elemental analysis,
infrared (IR) spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy and differential
thermal/thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTA). The complex was further confirmed by
single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) as triclinic with space group P-1. The desired
complex, subjected to thermal decomposition at low temperature of 400 °C in an open
atmosphere, revealed a novel and facile synthesis of pure NiO nanoparticles with uniform
spherical particle; the structure of the NiO nanoparticles product was elucidated on the
basis of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), UV-vis spectroscopy, TG/DTA, XRD,
scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDXS) and
transmission electron microscopy (TEM).