Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of zinc sulfide nanoparticles

Zinc sulfide NPs are well-known as excellent photo catalyst because of their unique optical properties such as band gap energy, retention time, the high light absorption, electron-hole recombination time, and high negative reduction-oxidation potential of excited electrons. Nanoparticles of (ZnS) were synthesized successfully from the reaction of a mixture of zinc chloride (ZnCl2) as precursor, ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) and different concentrations of potassium hydroxide oxide (KOH) with drop wise added thiourea (CS(NH2)2) in a hydrothermal Teflon-lined stainless-steel bomb at temperature of 120 oC. Particle size and surface morphology of the prepared ZnS nanoparticles were calculated using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), they show a ZnS spherical particle with diameters around 60 nm. X-Ray diffraction (XRD) revealed a ZnS cubical crystal structure. Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic analysis show the zinc to sulfur band at 627 cm^−1. The absorption spectra of ZnS NPs in the ultraviolet and visible ranges show a blue at λ max of 302 nm.