Microwave hydrothermal synthesis and photocatalytic activities of morphology-controlled ZnS crystallites

Abstract Morphology-controlled ZnS crystallites were successfully synthesized via a facile and efficient microwave hydrothermal method using different sulfur sources. The phase compositions, morphologies and photoluminescence properties of the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and luminescence spectrometer. Results show that the cubic sphalerite phase ZnS crystallites were prepared at thioacetamide as the sulfur source with the multistage nanospheres morphology, which exhibit good photocatalytic activities. ZnS microspheres with the compound phase of wurtzite and sphalerite were prepared at thiourea as the sulfur source, which exhibit obvious photoluminescence properties. The structures, photoluminescence and photocatalytic properties of the prepared ZnS crystallites were affected by different sulfur sources. In addition, the phase structure, size and the unique photoluminescence properties of the samples are believed to greatly affect the photocatalytic activities of the prepared ZnS crystallites.