Synthesis, characterization, and assembly of beta-In2S3 nanoparticles

Semiconductor nanoparticles of Indium Sulphide were synthesized by a hydrothermal method using InCl3 and Na2S. Powder X-ray Diffraction analysis confirmed that the product obtained was nanocrystals of single-phase beta-In2S3. The crystallite size distribution was obtained from the diffraction profile and the average size was approximately 5 nm. The compositional analyses performed on the as-prepared powder showed that the material was devoid of any impurity with an In:S ratio very close to 2:3. A colloid of very fine In2S3 particles was obtained from the as-prepared powder by suspending them in acetonitrile. The optical absorption of this colloid showed evidence of strong quantum confinement of excitons and as a result the particles yielded intense photoluminescence in the violet-blue region. These colloidal particles were then electrophoretically driven on to a transparent conducting substrate to assemble into a nanostructure. A Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction analysis of the deposited layer revealed that the preferred orientation noticed in the native powder was removed in the deposit. The surface morphology of the deposit studied using SEM and AFM displayed an inherent ordering behaviour in the clusters organized into a two-dimensional film. The locus of the cluster lines tend to form closed circles, at the nanoscopic as well as microscopic scales, indicative of certain strong neighborhood correlations. Such structures may be expected to exhibit novel correlated properties also.