Considerations about the Dependence of PEGylated ZnS Nanoparticles Properties on the Synthesis Method

Abstract

We studied the dependence between properties and synthesis method for PEGylated ZnS nanoparticles. Thus, we proposed the PEGylation of ZnS nanopowder, in non-aqueous medium, by a facile one-pot synthesis in very mild conditions, as an alternative for the chemical precipitation of PEGylated ZnS in an aqueous solution, and we compared the properties of zinc sulfide obtained by both methods. The structure and morphology of PEGylated ZnS nanopowders were investigated by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, and the FTIR spectra confirmed the PEGylation of ZnS nanoparticles. The values for band gap energy are in good accordance with the quantum confinement effect for nanocrystals. The mean dimension of particles was calculated, on the basis of UV–Vis spectra, by using the Brus equation and it is in good agreement with the crystallites size, determined from X-ray diffraction. The photocatalytic properties of synthesized nanopowders were tested in the degradation of Congo red azo dye, demonstrating a faster bleaching of dye in the presence of PEGylated ZnS prepared in non-aqueous medium. The photoluminescence properties are also dependent on the synthesis method and can be correlated with the surface modifications by PEG.

Influence of Synthesis Route on the Structure and Properties of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Functionalized with Anthocyanins from Raw Vegetable Extracts

“…66 Thus, zinc oxide cannot absorb the visible region of the solar spectrum (above 420 nm) and only less than 4% of the solar radiation is in ultraviolet region. 67 New materials which expand the adsorption range of ZnO in visible domain and enhance solar energy capture, by coupling of the zinc oxide to a narrower bandgap sensitizing semiconductor in composite materials 30,68 were obtained. The sensitizing of ZnO surface with pigments, as in dye sensitized solar cells 8,38 is another solution for enhancing the solar energy capture.…”

“…The procedure for the photocatalytic experiments, using a 45 W halogen lamp as simulated solar light source, which matches with the solar spectrum, was described in our previous papers. 30,31 The CR degradation was monitored by UV-Vis spectroscopy, in the range of 200-900 nm, on a Jasco V 550 spectrophotometer. The maximum of absorption for initial CR solution was identified at 498 nm.…”

Time‐Dependent Growth Rates of TGA‐Capped ZnS Nanocrystals as a Synthetic Formula for Ligand‐Capped Quantum Dots

“…[5] The optical properties of ZnS QDs can be tuned by size in the fabrication process. As a result, many researchers attempted to control their size during the synthesis DOI: 10.1002/crat.202200074 process by using different coating ligands, [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] varying the cationic surfactant, [14] changing the pH of the reaction solution, [15] or changing the ratio content of the Zn 2+ /S 2−[8, [16][17][18] or contents of the ligand. [19,20] So far, there is still little literature about the relationship between growth time and the average size of ligand-capped ZnS QDs.…”

“…This method allowed us to use simple instruments to fabricate the ZnS QDs, but the size of our as‐prepared QDs was still not reached in many previous reports. For instance, ZnS QDs capped by D‐Glucose, PEG, and TGA with an average diameter of 4, 2.5, and 3.5 nm were reported by J. M. Baruah et al., [ 9 ] A. Dumbrava et al., [ 13 ] and S. Ouni et al., [ 29 ] respectively. Although the growth of ZnS QDs during fabrication was mentioned previously, [ 21 ] it was still not systematically investigated.…”

Synthesis of InP/ZnS Nanocrystals and Phase Transfer by Hydrolysis of Ester

“…hot-injection [9][10][11] or heating-up [12], in aqueous solvent e.g. by chemical precipitation [13][14][15][16]), solid-state preparation (e.g. ball milling [17,18]), gas-phase preparation (e.g.…”