SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SPHERE-LIKE ZnS NANOCRYSTALS BY THERMOLYSIS OF A NEW COMPLEX PRECURSOR
Abstract
In this paper, the preparation and optical properties of sphere-like ZnS nanocrystals are reported. Pure and uniform cubic-phase sphere-like ZnS nanocrystals with grain sizes of 30–40 nm were synthesized by thermolysis of a new precursor complex (enH2)0.5[Zn(en)3](SCN)3 (en = ethylenediamine) in nitrogen stream at 800°C. The as-synthesized products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), respectively. The XRD analysis reveals the phase of ZnS with cubic zinc blende. UV-Vis and photoluminescence spectra (PL) were utilized to investigate the optical properties of sphere-like ZnS nanocrystals. By testing on UV-Vis spectra, it is concluded that the limiting wavelength of the ZnS nanocrystals is 320 nm and the band gap is 3.88 eV. In room temperature PL spectra, one strong emission peak centered at 322 nm is discovered, which could be attributed to the band to band transitions. The above-mentioned results showed that the thermolysis method is preferable for synthesizing high-quality sphere-like ZnS nanocrystals. The synthesized precursor could be used as morphological templates to prepare nanostructure inorganic compounds.
