Preparation and characterization of ZnS nanoparticles prepared by hydrothermal method

Abstract

ZnS nanoparticles were prepared by hydrothermal method using zinc nitrate [Zn(NO[Formula: see text] ⋅ 6H 2 O] and thiourea [SC(NH[Formula: see text]] as sources of Zn[Formula: see text] and S[Formula: see text] ions and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide [CH 3 (CH 2 )[Formula: see text]N[Formula: see text](CH 3 ) 3 ⋅ Br[Formula: see text]; CTAB] as a surface active agent. The structural, surface morphology and optical properties of ZnS nanoparticles as a function of growth temperature were investigated. The studies show that ZnS nanoparticles have high transmittance over 70% in the visible light range of 400–800 nm, and it has a strong green emission band at about 520 nm which originates from the recombination of electrons from the energy level of sulfur vacancies with the holes from the energy level of zinc vacancies. With the increase of the growth temperature, the XRD peak intensity and the size of ZnS nanoparticles increase, while the green emission intensity firstly increases and then decreases.