Effect of reaction parameters on photoluminescence and photocatalytic activity of zinc sulfide nanosphere synthesized by hydrothermal route

Abstract

Zinc Sulfide (ZnS) nanospheres have been synthesized using amino acid, l-Histidine as a capping agent byhydrothermal method. The as prepared ZnS have been characterised using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), FieldEmission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy(HRTEM), Photoluminescence (PL), Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy (FTIR), UV–vis absorptionspectroscopy and X-ray Photo Electron Spectroscopy (XPS). Effect of reaction parameters on particle sizehas been investigated. The morphology and size of the ZnS can be tuned based on the reaction parameters.ZnS nanosphere with a particle size of 5 nm is obtained when the reaction parameters are kept at 120◦C for3 h. The PL of ZnS shows multiple defect emissions arising from interstitials/vacancies. Particle size of ZnSnanoparticles plays an important role in determining the photo catalytic activity. A chronological studyon synthesis of ZnS nanosphere and its photo catalytic activity under the sunlight are discussed here,which reveals the photo degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) upto 87% as observed with ZnS nanospherehaving a particle size of 5 nm.