Synthesis and Characterization of water soluble ZnS: Ce, Cu co-doped Nanoparticles: Effect of EDTA Concentration

Ce, Cu co-doped ZnS nanoparticles were synthesized through a facile chemical precipitation method using Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as the capping agent. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized by X- ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X ray spectroscopy (EDAX), diffuse Reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), photoluminescence (PL) and raman spectroscopic techniques. The synthesized nanoparticles have a Zinc blende structure with average sizes of about 2-3 nm as determined by X-ray diffraction. It is observed that the particle size decreases with increasing capping agent concentration. SEM and TEM analysis showed the surface morphology of the prepared samples. EDAX analysis confirms the presence of corresponding elemental peaks. DRS studies show that the effective band gap energy increases with increasing capping agent concentration. It was evident from photoluminescence studies that the emission becomes more intensive as the size of the particles is reduced with increasing capping agent concentration. Raman studies revealed the absence of impurities and effective doping of EDTA capped ZnS nanoparticles co-doped with Ce and Cu.