HYDROTHERMAL AND MICROWAVE SYNTHESIS OF ZnS NANOPARTICLES

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) is a well-known semiconductor with the wide band gap similar to 3.6 eV. Since the ZnS exhibits excellent transmission properties, high electron mobility, non-toxicity, water insolubility, and it is relatively inexpensive, it has been considered as an important photocatalyst for water and wastewater treatment. In this study, ZnS nanoparticles were successfully prepared by hydrothermal synthesis using zinc chloride and sodium sulfide. Nevertheless, in order to further reduce the size of prepared ZnS nanoparticles and thus to further increase their photocatalytic activity, also the microwave synthesis was tested. Phase composition, morphology, particle size, and photoactivity of ZnS nanoparticles prepared by both methods were compared. FTIR spectroscopy, Raman microspectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray powder diffraction analyses were used. The efficiency of prepared photocatalysts was established by the decomposition of organic azo dye Acid Orange 7 under ultraviolet irradiation.

Automated summary

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanoparticles were successfully prepared using hydrothermal and microwave synthesis methods, with their properties compared and evaluated for photocatalytic activity by decomposing Acid Orange 7.