Spray pyrolysis synthesis of ZnS nanoparticles from a single-source precursor

ZnS, a II-VI semiconductor with a relatively high direct bandgap (approximately 3.6 eV) in the near-UV region, has potential applications in areas such as solar cells, lasers and displays. In addition, ZnS nanoparticles can be applied as phosphors, probes for bioimaging, emitters in light emitting diodes and photocatalysts. Here, we report synthesis of cubic ZnS nanoparticles from a low-cost single-source precursor in a continuous spray pyrolysis reactor. In this approach, the evaporation and decomposition of precursor and nucleation of particles occur sequentially. Product particles were characterized by HRTEM, XRD, and EDX. Particles with diameters ranging from 2 to 7 nm were produced. HF was used to remove ZnO impurities and other surface contamination. As-synthesized ZnS nanoparticles exhibit blue photoluminescence near 440 nm under UV excitation and have quantum yields up to 15% after HF treatment. This demonstrates a potentially general approach for continuous low-cost synthesis of semiconductor quantum dots for applications where tight control of the size distribution is less important than scalable, economical production.