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Structural and electrical conductivity studies on undoped and copper-doped nanocrystalline zinc sulphide

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Abstract

Zinc sulphide (ZnS) and copper-doped zinc sulphide nanocrystallites (ZnS:Cu) of average size 4 and 3 nm, respectively, have been synthesized by chemical precipitation method. Structural and morphological studies using X-ray and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) measurements have confirmed hexagonal structure for the samples. Using impedance spectroscopy, the effect of grain interior and grain boundary regions on the electrical conductivity have been studied at various temperatures. In the high temperature region, the grain boundary contribution to conduction is found to be larger than that of the grain interior region. Further, the activation energies of charge carriers in both the grain interior and grain boundary regions have been determined. The conduction mechanism of copper-doped zinc sulphide nanocrystallites have been studied at various temperatures and the results are reported.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, College of Engineering, Anna University, Guindy, Chennai, 600 025, Tamil Nadu, India

    S. Chellammal & S. Sankar

  2. Department of Nuclear Physics, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai, 600 025, Tamil Nadu, India

    S. Selvakumar, E. Viswanathan & K. Sivaji

  3. Department of Physics, Madras Institute of Technology Campus, Anna University, Chennai, 600 044, Tamil Nadu, India

    R. Murugaraj

Authors
  1. S. Chellammal
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  2. S. Sankar
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  3. S. Selvakumar
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  4. E. Viswanathan
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  5. R. Murugaraj
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  6. K. Sivaji
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Correspondence to S. Sankar.

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Chellammal, S., Sankar, S., Selvakumar, S. et al. Structural and electrical conductivity studies on undoped and copper-doped nanocrystalline zinc sulphide. J Mater Sci 45, 1242–1247 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-009-4073-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-009-4073-8

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