Optical and Structural Investigations of Manganese Doped ZnS/SiO₂ Core-Shell Nanostructure

Abstract

The paper reports room temperature synthesis of wurtzite type manganese doped ZnS nanostructures via colloidal technique. The reaction procedure found to play an important role in the crystal growth of ZnS. Surface encapsulation of ZnS by silica (SiO 2 ) provides e®ective approach for uniform coating, where 3-Mercaptopropyl Tri methoxysilane (MPS) has been used for silica source as a capping molecule. The obtained silica coated ZnS nanocrystals were well dispersed with hexagonal wurtzite structure of core-shell particles size of about 15 nm. Aggregation of these nanoparticles has been promoted to special shaped structures, which are crystals of 8H wurtzite with prominent pyramidal morphology with curved faces. Growth phenomena of this wurtzite polytype of homologous series 8H is based on screw dislocations and exhibited optimal photoluminescence (PL) spectra.