Structural and Optical Studies of ZnS & ZnS-Ni Nano Materials

The behavior of doped and undoped nano-particles find a great deal of interest among the researchers for its number of application in opto-electronic and semi-conductor devices. ZnS nano-crystals were grown into poly-vinyl alcohol matrix by chemical route at different weight percentage. Optical properties of both undoped and doped with ZnS nano-crystalline compounds were studied. The nano structure was characterized with the help of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Hi- resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM). Surface morphology was studied with the help of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Average particle size of ZnS and ZnS-Ni were found to be 5 and 11 nm in TEM, while that obtained from XRD was about 2.28-2.49 nm. Peak of Photo-luminescence (PL) emission spectra was found at 393 nm and another peak at 403 nm corresponding to dopant 0.5% and 1.0% at room temperature. Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDX) spectra showed presence of Zn, S, & Ni with 67.92, 27.50 & 4.58 weight% respectively. These data showed successful doping with Ni. Optical absorption studies were carried out with UV-VIS Spectrophotometer and showed a strong absorbance at wavelength 400 nm with a tendency towards blue shift. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) showed a set of three well defined rings corresponding to planes 111, 220, 311 which tallied well with the JCPDS card No. 05-0566.