A Simple Approach to Fabricate CdS-SiO 2 Hybrid Microspheres by Producing CdS Nanoparticles on the Surface of Thiolated SiO 2 Microspheres

Abstract

We have developed a simple synthetic method to prepare the hybrid microspheres of CdS nanoparticles on the surface of silica microspheres modified by(3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane(MPS). The—SH groups of MPS can bind with the Cd2+ ions on the surface of SiO2. When thioacetamide releases H2S, the nanosized CdS particles(1–6 nm) will successfully be generated on the silica surface under the experimental conditions. The size of the CdS nanoparticles was found to be related to the concentration of Cd2+ feed and the size of silica spheres, the higher the concentration of Cd2+ and the larger of silica microspheres, the bigger the size of CdS nanoparticles. Techniques including UV, PL, TEM and XPS were used to characterize the CdS-SiO2 hybrid microspheres.