Influence of Polyvinyl Alcohol and Alpha-Methacrylic Acid as Capping Agents on Particle Size of ZnS Nanoparticles

Abstract

ZnS nanoparticles were synthesized successfully by wet chemical route using two capping agents, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and alpha-methacrylic acid (MA) to control particle growth. Optical property and the morphology of the synthesized ZnS nanoparticles revealed the influence of the capping agents in the formation of nanosize ZnS semiconductor. Particle sizes estimated from X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis are 3.75 nm and 2.60 nm for ZnS/PVA and ZnS/MA respectively. The estimated energy band gap of the capped ZnS nanoparticles showed blue shift of 0.60 eV and 1.00 eV for ZnS/PVA and ZnS/MA respectively. The vibrational modes associated with OH-stretching and –COOH from the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements confirm the presence of the capping agents.