A new and simple method for sulfur nanoparticles synthesis

Sulfur nanoparticles were successfully synthesized via novel water-in-oil microemulsion system. The microemulsion system contained cyclohexane as an oil phase, Triton X-100 as a surfactant, butanol as a co-surfactant and sodium polysulfide solution or hydrochloric acid solution as aqueous phase, respectively. The sulfur nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results showed that the as-prepared monoclinic sulfur nanoparticles exhibited high purity and spherical shape with an average size of about 22 nm.