Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of ZnS microspheres and hollow nanospheres

Abstract: ZnS hollow nanospheres have been hydrothermally synthesized at 200°C for 4h. In same condition ZnS microspheres were obtained when using acrylamide as the surfactant. XRD pattern indicates as-prepared sample is cubic ZnS with cell constant a =5.391Å and the average size of ZnS particles was 6.5nm estimating from the Debye–Scherrer formula. TEM observed the hollow nanospheres have the diameters ranging from 200 to 300nm with a shell thickness of about 40nm. UV–vis and PL spectra recorded the optical properties of the sample, a blue-shift (∼19nm) was observed. It appears that the hollow spheres might be formed by soft-template of gas bubbles of SO2 produced during the reaction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]