Oleylamine as solvent and stabilizer to synthesize shape-controlled ZnS nanocrystals with good optical properties

We report on the synthesis of shape-controlled ZnS nanocrystals (NCs) through a facile and green phosphine-free one-pot method. Rod-, dot-shaped, and quasi-cubic ZnS NCs were prepared using oleylamine as coordinating solvent, zinc stearate as Zn precursor and sulfur powder, thiourea, and dodecanethiol as S precursors, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies showed that S source played an important role in synthetic process. When thiourea and dodecanethiol took place of sulfur powder, no nanorods but dot-shaped and quasi-cubic ZnS NCs were formed. Moreover, the obtained different morphologies of ZnS NCs exhibit good optical properties and hold promise for future applications in nanodevices, biomarkers, and so on.

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► We described a phosphine-free recipe for synthesizing ZnS NCs.
► ZnS NCs have three different morphologies.
► This wide variation of shapes is helpful in other shape-controlled synthesis.
► ZnS NCs exhibit good optical properties.
► ZnS NCs hold promise for future applications in nanodevices.