Structural and luminescent properties of ZnO nanorods and ZnO/ZnS nanocomposites

This manuscript presents the preparation and characterization of ZnO/ZnS nanostructured materials through sulfuration conversion from ZnO nanorods by a simple chemical synthesis. ZnO nanorods are synthesized by SDS-assisted hydrothermal growth. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques are used to characterize the ZnO nanorods and the novel ZnO/ZnS nanocomposites. The results show that the ZnO nanorods are wurtzite crystal structure and the ZnS nanoparticles are sphalerite structure with the average size of about 10 nm grown on the surface of the ZnO nanorods. The measurements of the optical properties reveal that ZnO/ZnS nanocomposites have integrated the photoluminescent effect of ZnO and ZnS. Comparing to the bare ZnO nanorods with the ultraviolet, blue and green emissions of the ZnO/ZnS nanocomposites are dramatically enhanced, while the orange emission is passivated. In addition, the growth mechanism of ZnO/ZnS nanocomposites is discussed preliminarily. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.