ZnS deposition on oxadiazole–terpyridine copolymer

Abstract

AbstractThe combination of inorganic salts and macromolecules leads to supramolecular structures with new interesting physical and chemical properties. The deposition of ZnS (Wurtzite) on oxadiazole–terpyridine copolymer P‐90/10 synthesized by free radical copolymerization were investigated. The apparent order of the crystallization process was found to be 2 that indicated a surface diffusion‐controlled mechanism. Critical nucleus formation proceeds via complexation of the ZnS molecules to the N atoms as concluded from computational chemistry calculations. The number of ions forming the critical nucleus was found experimentally to be (n*exp = 1.71 ± 0.24) in accordance with the computational chemistry calculations by the PM3 method of the MOPAC program package. The surface energy of the growing ZnS phase was found to be 121 mJ/m2 typical for sparingly soluble salts. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 1913–1918, 2006