Structural, optical and radiation shielding properties of ZnS nanoparticles QDs

Abstract

In this paper, the structural, optical and radiation shielding properties of ZnS nanoparticles (NPs) Quantum Dots (QDs) were studied by changing the molarity of the sulfur source used for the synthesis. The molarity change method of the sulfur source is suitable for the fabrication of ZnS nanoparticles of different sizes. X-ray diffraction (XRD), transition electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR), Photoluminescence (PL) and UV–visible spectroscopy were used to study the structure and optical properties of ZnS QDs. XRD analyses exhibit cubic structure with the average crystallite size in the range (3.8–2 nm). The spherical shape is observed from TEM images. Analyses of FTIR and PL emission peaks, with different molarity of the sulfur source, confirmed the structural deformation resulting from the different concentrations of S. The analyses of absorption spectra measured by UV–visible spectroscopy indicated a strong quantum confinement effect for the ZnS samples prepared with different molarity of S source. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC), half-value layer (HVL), tenth value layer (TVL) and the mean free path (MFP) at the photon energy from 0.015 to 15 MeV, were evaluated using Phy-X / PSD software program. It is found that the LAC increases with increasing nanoparticle size, while HVL, TVL and MFP decrease as the particle size decreases. Moreover, the fast neutron removal cross-section ƩR has been evaluated.