Abstract

• Zinc sulphide quantum dots (QDs) have been synthesized by the hydrothermal method. In this method, zinc acetate Zn(CH3CO2)2 and sodium sulphide nonahydrate Na2S.9H2O were used as starting materials. Glacial acetic acid was used to adjust the selected pH values of the system (pH=4, 5, and 6), and ammonia solution was used to obtain the pH values of the system (pH=8, 9, and 10). The synthesized ZnS QDs were characterized by using X-ray Diffraction Analysis (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT IR), and UV-Visible Spectroscopy. The crystallite size range (8-13 nm) of the synthesized ZnS QDS was determined from the results of the XRD patterns by using Debye-Scherrer’s equation. From the FT IR spectrum, a metal-sulphur bond (Zn-S) was found at 639 cm−1 . UV/Vis spectra indicated the absorption wavelengths of ZnS QDs at 270 nm.