The Study on the Time Dependency and the Stability of Cobalt Sulphide Nanoparticles Under an Electron Beam

Abstract

We report on the synthesis and characterization of cobalt sulphide (CoS(1.097)) nanoparticles using a cobalt tetramethylthiuram disulphide complex as a single-source precursor. To study the effect of reaction time on the optical and morphological properties of the synthesized nanoparticles, aliquots from the reaction mixture were collected after different intervals of time. The absorption spectra were time dependent, with the 5 min aliquot being the most blue-shifted from bulk and the subsequent samples showing a slight shift towards the bulk. Photoluminescence of the nanoparticles showed a single emission wavelength of 341 nm, however, the peak intensity of nanoparticles decreased with reaction time. The morphology of the synthesized nanoparticles was investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM (HR-TEM). Results from the SEM images showed the formation of spherical CoS(1.097) nanoparticles and the size of the observed nanoparticles increase with increasing reaction time. However, the TEM results showed a change in the morphology of the particles from spherical to wire-like. The change in morphology was thought to be induced by the high voltage electron beam and this was supported by the HR-TEM and optical results.