Structural, morphological and photoluminescence studies of multi shells coated ZnO nanocomposites

• Multilayer core–shell nanocomposites have been successfully synthesized.
• Ball like ZnO/CdS/ZnS composites is obtained by stabilized in de-ionized water.
• Enhanced PL emission is observed for ZnO/CdS/ZnS nanocomposites.

ZnO/CdS/ZnS (0.1–0.5 M) nanocomposites were successfully synthesized by chemical method and excellent optical properties were reported. Obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Photoluminescence (PL), UV–visible spectrophotometer and thermo gravimetric–differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA). The XRD results showed cubic structure of CdS and ZnS were (size of about >5 nm) grew on the surface of the hexagonal ZnO nanoparticles. The measurement of luminescence revealed that ZnO/CdS/ZnS core–shell integrated the luminescent effect of ZnO, CdS and ZnS. Broad blue and sharp yellow emissions were observed for ZnO/CdS/ZnS core–shell nanocomposites. In addition, thermal stability was also analyzed.