Low temperature synthesis, characterization and photoluminescence study of plate-like ZnS

The plate-like ZnS microstucture has been prepared at low temperature in high-yield via catalyst-free chemical precipitation method without using any surfactant, organic solvent or capping agent. The method is a highly reproducible route which could be applicable for preparation of other semiconductors. The as-synthesized ZnS belongs to cubic structure. The formation of plate-like microstructure, with the grain size of about 80-200 nm (from SEM), is possibly due to assembling of many crytallites (crystallite size of 2.7-3.4 nm, from XRD). FT-IR spectrum indicates stability of ZnS without oxidizing to ZnO during the preparation process. The blue emission in photoluminescence (PL) spectrum is quite broad over the range of 420-500 nm. This may originate from the radiative combination due to surface defect states in the ZnS microstructure. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.