Preparation of Cr-doped ZnS nanosheets with room temperature ferromagnetism via a solvothermal route

Abstract

ZnS semiconductor nanosheets doped with different amounts of chromium have been successfully produced via the solvothermal reaction of ZnO and S with CrCl3·6H2O in mixed solvents of ethylenediamine and ethanolamine at 180°C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements demonstrated that the Cr-doped ZnS nanocrystals had a wurtzite structure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images revealed that the morphologies of ZnS doped with high amounts of chromium consisted of regular nanosheets. Zn1−xCrxS (x=0.0934 or 0.1170) nanosheets produced a regular morphology with thicknesses of 50–100nm, widths of 300nm and lengths of 1µm. This product, composed of Cr, Zn, and S, was observed by an energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). A vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) showed that the Cr-doped ZnS nanosheets exhibited ferromagnetism at room temperature, while the pure ZnS nanosheets exhibited diamagnetism. The saturation magnetization of the Cr-doped ZnS nanosheets increased with increasing Cr concentration over the range of x=0.0241–0.0934. The saturation magnetization of the Zn1−xCrxS (x=0.0934) nanosheets was 8.6492 (10−3emu/g). The experimental results confirmed that Cr-doped ZnS nanosheets exhibit ferromagnetism at room temperature, in good agreement with the ferromagnetic properties of Cr-doped ZnS that were predicted by first-principles computations.