Structural and morphological transformations of textural porous zinc sulfide microspheres

Here we report a study on the structural and morphological transformations of textural porous ZnS microspheres that were synthesized by employing a facile hydrothermal reaction. The as-obtained ZnS phase was further transformed to a ZnO phase by heat treatment at 500 degrees C. The phase transformation goes through the formation of intermediate ZnS/ZnO phase. The structural and morphological transformations were studied by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction, N-2-physisorption techniques and scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy. In addition, we also evaluated the photocatalytic activity of ZnS, ZnO and ZnS/ZnO microspheres by degradation of methylene green dye. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.