Simple synthesis of ZnSe nanoparticles by thermal treatment and their characterization

A simple thermal treatment was used to synthesize ZnSe nanoparticles at different calcination temperatures in a nitrogen flowing. The samples of ZnSe nanoparticles were prepared by reacting zinc nitrate (source of zinc) and selenium powder with Polyvinylpyrrolidone (capping agent). Analysis of their X-ray diffraction patterns suggested the formation of an amorphous phase of the unheated material before calcination, which then transformed into a cubic crystalline structure of ZnSe nanoparticles after calcination. The phase analyses using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the presence of Zn and Se as the original compounds of prepared ZnSe nanoparticle samples. The average particle size of the samples increased from 7 +/- 5 to 18 +/- 3 nm as the calcination temperature was increased from 450 to 700 degrees C, which is also supported by the transmission electron microscopy results. Diffuse UV-visible reflectance spectra were used to determine the optical band gap through the Kubelka-Munk equation; the energy band gap was found to decrease from 4.24 to 3.95 eV with increasing calcination temperature. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license.