Role of Aluminium Concentration on the Structural, Morphological, and Optical Properties of ZnS Nanoparticles

The synthesis and study of nanoparticles of different materials have become an important research discipline over the past few decades. This study aims to explore the role of Al3+ ion concentration on the structural, morphological, compositional and optical properties of ZnS nanoparticles. Direct co-precipitation is employed to synthesize pristine and Al-doped ZnS nanoparticles (Zn1-xAlxS with x = 0 <= x <= 0.12) using aqueous solutions of Zn(CH3COO)(2), Na2S and Al-2(SO4)(3) in the presence of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as a stabilizing agent. The structural analysis showed that Zn1-xAlxS nanoparticles are crystallized in the cubic structure and exhibit preferred orientation along the (111) direction. The different structural parameters are observed to fluctuate with Al incorporation in ZnS but their crystal structure remains unaltered. The surface morphology of Zn1-xAlxS nanoparticles is observed to be densely packed with spherically shaped crystallites which varied with doping. The chemical species and elemental composition of the synthesized nanoparticles are identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), respectively. UV-visible spectra revealed a blueshift in the absorption edge with increasing concentration of Al in Zn1-xAlxS nanoparticles. The optical band gap values are found to be greater than that of the bulk value of ZnS which confirms quantum confinement in the synthesized nanoparticles. Graphic Abstract The synthesis and study of nanoparticles of different materials have become an important research discipline over the past few decades. This study aims to explore the role of Al3+ ions concentration on the structural, morphological, compositional and optical properties of ZnS nanoparticles. Direct co-precipitation is employed to synthesize pristine and Al-doped ZnS nanoparticles (Zn1-xAlxS with x = 0 <= x <= 0.12) using aqueous solutions of Zn(CH3COO)(2), Na2S and Al-2(SO4)(3) in the presence of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid as a stabilizing agent. The structural analysis showed that Zn1-xAlxS nanoparticles are crystallized in the cubic structure that exhibit preferred orientation along the (111) direction. The different structural parameters are observed to fluctuate with Al incorporation in ZnS but their crystal structure remain unaltered. The surface morphology of Zn1-xAlxS nanoparticles is observed to be densely packed with spherically shaped crystallites which varied with doping. The chemical species and elemental composition of the synthesized nanoparticles are identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, respectively. UV-visible spectra revealed a blueshift in the absorption edge with increasing concentration of Al in Zn1-xAlxS nanoparticles. The optical band gap values are found greater than that of the bulk value of ZnS which confirms quantum confinement in the synthesized nanoparticles.