Synthesis and Antioxidant Investigation of Ag2S Nanoparticles Obtained from Silver(I) Complex of N-Methyl-N-Phenyl- Dithiocarbamate

Monoclinic Ag2S nanoparticles have been synthesized via a thermal decomposition of Ag(I) complex of N-methyl-N-phenyl dithiocarbamate (as a single source precursor) in oleylamine at 180 °C. The complex was characterized by spectroscopic techniques. The decomposition profile was studied using thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) coupled to differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the results obtained from these characterization techniques confirmed the formation of the silver dithiocarbamate complex. The Ag2S nanoparticles was characterized using X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-visible spectroscopy, and fourier transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy. The XRD patterns of the silver sulphide nanoparticles confirmed acanthite phase, with the most prominent (-121) peak identified at 2θ value of 34.39o, while EDS analysis showed Ag:S ratio of 2:1, which agreed with the XRD result. FTIR spectrum revealed the presence of amine groups, thereby confirmed that the synthesized Ag2S was capped by oleylamine. Finally, the antioxidant activity of the Ag2S was determined by using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay and it exhibited better antioxidant activities than silver nanoparticles.