Comprehensive elucidation of experimental results of polytype ZnS‐10H quantum dots produced in single stride

Abstract

Polytypes of a material exhibit different structures (nanosheets, nanorods, nanospheres etc.), leading to distinct properties pertinent to their respective fields. Theoretical studies using computational methods have elaborated their properties and essence; however, only a few studies were presented experimentally. Ab-initio synthesis of wurtzite ZnS-10 H polytype was carried out and an extensive study was done to unfold the properties to manoeuvre in different fields. Being a potential material for quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSC), ZnS-10 H was synthesized at 70 °C to enhance the properties and in conjunction with the sustainability and durability of the device. Wurtzite crystal structure of polytype ZnS-10 H was confirmed from the studies. Capping agent manifests its role by passivating the material’s surface and the efficacy of the capping agent depends on the binding affinity of ligands and the concentration of the capping agent. Photoluminescence (PL) of uncapped ZnS-10 H shows its luminescence similar to ZnS, and the effect of 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) is obtained with 2-ME variations, after a limit (i.e., at 6 mL of capping agent) core-shell structure formation was seen with no emission and no excitation indicating the light capturing ability. Current findings suggest the possible applications of polytype ZnS-10 H in QDSSC, photovoltaic devices and photocatalytic activities.