Abstract
Zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanoparticles may provide a semiconductor material to be suitable for opt-electronic applications such as a phosphor for a flat panel display. In this paper, ZnS nanoparticles were obtained by the microemulsion system, of which surfactant was bis (2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate sodium anionic surfactant (AOT) or hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide cationic surfactant (CTAB), and their photoluminescence (PL) properties were measured. When the water content of the microemulsion increased, the size of ZnS nanoparticles increased, and then the intensity of their PL increased in general. In the case of large water content, their size and PL intensity increased with the elapsed time. On the other hands, when the molar ratio of water and surfactant was three, which meant low water content, the PL intensity of ZnS nanoparticles increased with time, although their size did not change. The PL intensity of ZnS nanoparticles prepared in AOT surfactant system was higher than that in CTAB surfactant system, when particle size was equal. This might be indicated that the interaction between surfactant ion and ZnS is affected in the PL intensity. The stability of particle growth was also dependent on the surfactant type, even if at the same particle size or water content condition. We also found that the PL intensity of ZnS nanoparticles by the continuous irradiation was different from that by the intermittent irradiation.
