Synthesis of CdS, ZnS and Ag₂S nanoparticles stabilized by sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate and polyoxyethylenesorbitan monooleate in aqueous medium

Abstract

The effect of synthesis conditions (molar ratio between precursors, concentration of surfactants, synthesis temperature) on the size of CdS, ZnS and Ag₂S nanoparticles (NPs) stabilized by sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)succinate and polyoxyethylenesorbitan monooleate was studied. It was established that stabilization by polyoxyethylenesorbitan results in formation of smaller NPs (∼8 nm) as compared to that in the presence of sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (14–60 nm), which is due to the difference between the adsorption rates of these surfactants onto the surface of synthesized NPs. The resulting aqueous dispersions of CdS, ZnS and Ag₂S NPs exhibit long-term stability to sedimentation. The nanoparticle size increases insignificantly with temperature increasing to 65–70°C and rises abruptly at higher temperatures. The increase in the ratio between concentrations of precursors (sulfide and metal ions) also results in an increase in NP size, allowing one to synthesize nanoparticles of prescribed sizes. The optical properties of the resulting nanoparticles were studied. The positions of the exciton peaks and the luminescence intensity peaks of the dispersions of synthesized CdS and ZnS NPs were determined.