Tunable emission of electro-spun ceramic ZnS:Cu:Co nanofibers for photonic applications: structure and optical properties

Lab-made electrospinning method together with thermal treatment can be considered simple, cost-effective, and non-toxic approach. ZnS ceramic nanofibers were fabricated by thermally treated ZnO nanofibers in H2S atmosphere. The cubic phase of fabricated ZnS nanofibers is verified by XRD measurements. The nano-nature with an average fiber diameter of 110 nm was confirmed by electron microscopy (SEM). While the EDS spectrum showed the compositional information. The optical properties were investigated to study the effect of doped elements by measuring the absorption spectra. The blue shift of the optical bandgap of synthesized ZnS:Cu:Co fibers with respect to the value of bulk was investigated by the UV-Visible spectroscopy. The bandgap values and its nature of deviation was studied extensively. A photoluminescence (PL) study of the ZnS and ZnS:Cu:Co fibers at room temperature indicated a strong emission band over the visible region centered at 520- 556 nm. This tuned luminescence band was due to the presence of doping of Cu and Co. These results revealed that, such low cost synthesized materials are appropriate for wide use in optoelectronic devices by tuning the optical bad-gap of ZnS nanofibers using these dopants.

Automated summary

Lab-made electrospinning method combined with thermal treatment was used to fabricate ZnS ceramic nanofibers, showing excellent optical properties such as a blue shift in the optical bandgap. Doping of Cu and Co in the ZnS nanofibers led to a strong emission band over the visible region, indicating potential applications in optoelectronic devices.