Structural and Optical Characterization of Pure and Mn<sup>2+</sup> -Doped ZnS Nanoparticles Prepared by Solvothermal Method

Abstract

ZnS and Mn2+doped ZnS nanoparticles are synthesized through a simple solvothermal method. The structural and optical properties of pure and doped ZnS nanoparticles were studied using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-vis absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that undoped and Mn2+doped ZnS crystallizes in cubic structures. The average grain size of the nanoparticles lies in the range of 2.2 to 4.8 nm. The SEM image shows that pure and doped nanoparticles are in spherical shape. The optical absorption spectrum exhibits a clear blue shift for ZnS and Mn2+doped ZnS nanoparticles when compared with bulk ZnS. Photoluminescence spectra recorded for ZnS nanoparticles exhibits an emission peak centered around 428 nm for an excitation wavelength of 330 nm. However, for Mn2+doped samples, an yellow–orange emission is observed along with the blue emission.