Synthesis and characteristics of silica-modified ZnS nanoparticles by sol–gel-hydrothermal method

Monodisperse silica-modified ZnS nanoparticles were prepared by sol–gel-hydrothermal method. XRD, XPS and FT-IR analysis results proved that there existed strong interaction between SiO2 and ZnS. ZnS was covered with silica. The crystallinity and sizes of ZnS nanoparticles depended on the silica content, and the addition of silica could effectively suppress the growth of ZnS crystals. A considerable blue shift in the absorbing band edge significantly was observed for the silica-modified ZnS, and the blue shift became more remarkable as increase of silica content. The room temperature photoluminescence showed two UV emission peaks (at 304 and 364 nm, respectively) and a broad green peak.