Potential of Nano-ZnS as Electrocatalyst

ZnS is a versatile wide-gap semiconductor that shows remarkable chemical stability against oxidation zinc] hydrolysis. These properties are retained when the particle size steps down to 10 run and below, and thus ZnS nanoparticles are interesting entities for optical and catalytic functions, where they might he exposed to quite aggressive environments. Moreover, ZnS may be doped by a host of elements, so that the electrical and optical properties call be tuned over an extended range. Neither Zn nor S are ill short Supply, and ZnS as compound or ill View Of the Constituting elements is not toxic. Therefore, functional materials based oil ZnS will be ideal for green chemistry applications, since they are suited also for large scale maim fact Lire and will pose no additional problems whenw released into (lie environment. The article describes first results for ZnS-nanoparticles acting as electrocatalysts. a field that has not been covered so far by ZnS-derived materials. The catalytic action is evaluated for the decomposition of ethanol. a potentially abundant fuel for mobile electricity generation, since it can be fabricated by fermentation from a broad range of organic materials.