Formation of CdS/ZnS nanoparticles in polymer matrix by SILAR method: Experiments and exploring its optical properties with DDA calculations

Abstract

Composite nanostructures of Cadmium Sulfide (CdS) and Zinc sulfide (ZnS) were formed within the Cellulose Acetate matrix using successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method, and their morphological and elemental characterizations were done employing field emission electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses. Experimental and theoretical investigations of the optical absorbance spectra of the prepared samples were performed by Uv-Visible spectroscopy and discrete dipole approximation (DDA) calculations respectively. The results show that when the absorbing part of the polymer matrix is composed of only CdS, increasing the number of SILAR cycles results in enlarging the absorbing part and a redshift in the wavelength of the maximum of the absorbance spectra. On the contrary, when the two materials CdS and ZnS have a contribution in the formation of the absorbing part, without paying attention to material distribution topology, and the absorbing part size, the abovementioned wavelength will remain unchanged.