A fast and template‐free method is proposed for the preparation of nanocrystalline ZnS in the presence of 1‐ethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium ethylsulphate, [EMIM][EtSO4], a room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL), under microwave irradiation for 4 min. Powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD) studies show that the products are excellently crystallized in a cubic structure. Energy dispersive X‐ray (EDX) spectroscopy investigations reveal that the products are extremely pure. The results obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrate that nanocrystalline ZnS prepared in the presence of the RTIL are smaller than that of the sample prepared in water and the size of the nanoclusters decreases with increasing RTIL content of the media. Diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) of the as‐prepared ZnS show a blue shift relative to the bulk ZnS, which can be attributed to quantum confinement effect of nanocrystalline ZnS. A possible formation mechanism of the nanocrystalline ZnS in aqueous solutions of the RTIL is presented. The photocatalytic activity of the nanocrystalline ZnS towards photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) was investigated. The results demonstrate that the photocatalytic properties of the nanocrystalline ZnS prepared in the presence of the RTIL are better than that of the sample prepared in water.
Fast, simple and template-free method is proposed for preparation of ZnO nanocrystallines in the presence of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethyl sulfate, [EMIM][EtSO 4 ], a room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL) under microwave irradiation. The powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies display that products are excellently crystallized in the form of wurtzite hexagonal structure. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) investigations reveal that the products are extremely pure. The results obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrate that mean size of ZnO nanocrystallines decreases with microwave irradiation time and the RTIL content of media. Diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) of the ZnO nanocrystallines shows blue shift relative to the bulk ZnO, which can be attributed to quantum confinement effect of ZnO nanocrystallines. A possible formation mechanism of the ZnO nanocrystallines in aqueous solution of the RTIL is presented. Photocatalytic activity of the ZnO nanocrystallines towards photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) was carried out. The results demonstrate that photocatalytic activity of the ZnO nanocrystallines increases with microwave irradiation time and the RTIL content of media.
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