Vermiculite interlayer as a reactor for CdS ultrafine particles preparation

In this paper we describe the preparation and characterization of cadmium sulfide (CdS) particles grown on the Mg and Na-vermiculite (MgV, NaV) fractions of less than 40 μm. The Na-vermiculite was prepared in a monoionic full-saturated 12 Ǻ form from MgV. The cadmium vermiculites were prepared by the ion-exchange method. The processes of the interlayer cations exchange with Cd2+ as well as the own formation of CdS particles after the reaction of cadmium vermiculite with hydrogen sulfide (H2S) were studied by using X-ray powder diffraction method, scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive analysis, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and UV–VIS diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The possible ordering of the CdS in the vermiculite interlayer was proposed using the molecular modeling.