Cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles were synthesized by chemical precipitation method using cadmium chloride (CdCl2), sodium sulfide (Na2S) and water as a solvent by varying temperatures from 20-80 degrees C. The nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and UV-Visible spectroscopy. XRD pattern revealed cubic crystal structure for all the synthesized CdS nanoparticles. Raman spectra showed first and second order longitudinal optical (LO) phonon vibrational modes of CdS. The size of CdS nanoparticles was found to be in the range of 15-80 nm by FE-SEM analysis, in all cases. The atomic percentage of cadmium and sulfur was confirmed to be 1:1 from EDS analysis. TEM micrograph depicts the spherical shape of the particles and the size is in the range of 15-85 nm while HR-TEM images of CdS nanoparticles exhibit well-resolved lattice fringes of the cubic structure of CdS. The optical properties of CdS were examined by UV-Visible spectroscopy which showed variation in absorption band from 460-480 nm. The band gap was calculated from the absorption edge and found to be in the range of 3.2-3.5 eV which is greater than the bulk CdS.

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A new iridium boride, β-Ir4B5, was synthesized under high-pressure/high-temperature conditions of 10.5 GPa and 1500 °C in a multianvil press with a Walker-type module. The new modification β-Ir4B5 crystallizes in a new structure type in the orthorhombic space group Pnma (no. 62) with the lattice parameters a = 10.772(2) Å, b = 2.844(1) Å, and c = 6.052(2) Å with R1 = 0.0286, wR2 = 0.0642 (all data), and Z = 2. The structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray and neutron powder diffraction on samples enriched in 11B. The compound is built up by an alternating stacking of boron and iridium layers with the sequence ABA′B′. Additionally, microcalorimetry, hardness, and compressibility measurements of the binary iridium borides α-Ir4B5, β-Ir4B5, Ir5B4, hexagonal Ir4B3–x and orthorhombic Ir4B3–x were carried out and theoretical investigations based on density function theory (DFT) were employed to complement a comprehensive evaluation of structure–property relations. The incorporation of boron into the structures does not enhance the compressibility but leads to a significant reduction of the bulk moduli and elastic constants in comparison to elemental iridium.

Chalcopyrite Culn(1-x)Ga(x)Se2 (CIGS) nanoparticles were synthesized by mixing copper (I) chloride (CuCl), Indium (III) chloride (InCl3), gallium (III) chloride (GaCl3) and selenium (Se) in oleylamine (OLA) at 260 degrees C for 4 h under nitrogen atmosphere. The Ga/(In+ Ga) ratio was tuned across the entire stoichiometric range from 0 to 1. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) revealed chalcopyrite crystal structure for samples prepared with x = 0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 1. The lattice parameters a and c decreased linearly with increasing Ga concentration which is consistent with Vegard's law. Raman spectra exhibited A, optical phonon vibrational mode for synthesized nanoparticles which gradually shifted to higher wavenumber with increasing Ga content. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images showed irregular as well as hexagonal plate like morphologies in the size range of 100 to 400 nm. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) images showed well-defined lattice fringes and d-spacing correspond to (112) plane which gradually decreases with increasing Ga content. The material compositions of synthesized CIGS nanoparticles with x = 0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 1 were very close to the desired stoichiometry which was confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX). Ultraviolet visible near infrared (UV-VIS-NIR) absorption spectra of the synthesized CIGS nanoparticles revealed that the bandgap could be tuned over the range 1 to 1.7 eV by varying the Ga/(In+Ga) ratio.

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