Synthesis and characterization of cadmium sulfide nanocrystals in the presence of a new sulfur source via a simple solvothermal method†
Abstract
CdS nanocrystals were successfully prepared using solvothermal strategies that employed Cd(NO3)2·4H2O and a new sulfurising agent from the class of thio Schiff-bases as starting materials, and propylene glycol (PG) as the solvent. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show that the synthesized CdS nanostructures have hexagonal and cubic structures with a diameter of about 12 nm. The formation of CdS nanoparticles and their structure, morphology and elemental composition were studied by means of FT-IR, XRD, SEM, HR-TEM and EDAX. The optical properties of the products were characterized by optical absorption spectroscopy. Based on the results of the experiments, it was found that the reaction temperature, duration and the solvent play significant roles in the formation of the CdS nanoparticles. The initiative of this work is the application of a new thio Schiff-base (2-(benzylidene amino) benzenethiol (C13H11NS)) as a complexing and sulfurising agent for the synthesis of CdS nanostructures. A possible formation mechanism of the nanoparticles is discussed.