High temperature powder diffraction study of (Zn,Cd)S and ZnxCd1−xS nanopowders

Abstract

Nanocrystalline powders of cubic (Zn,Cd)S and Zn_xCd_1−xS were synthesized by the chemical precipitate method from the aqueous solution of sodium sulphide, zinc nitrate and cadmium nitrate at 277 K without any capping agent. High temperature X-ray diffraction (HTXRD) has been performed to test the stability of the nanopowders. We observed, ZnS is more structurally stable than CdS even at high temperature. The systematic shift in peak position towards the higher angles revealed the changes in the lattice parameter of ZnS and Zn_xCd_1−xS with an increase in the temperature. The environmental impact on ZnS during HTXRD has also been observed. We observed a significant change in the particle size as the temperature increases. Results of the high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAD) are in accordance with the XRD data.