Nucleation and Growth of Zinc Sulfide Nanoparticles in Ultrathin Polymer Films by Layer-by-Layer Polyionic Assemblies

Sevil Cetinkaya, Qian Zhou, Shuangjian Zhang, Ashkon Mohebi, Dat V. Quach, Pieter Stroeve

University of California Davis.

DOI: 10.4236/snl.2011.12006                

Abstract

In this work, zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanoparticles were formed by nucleation and growth in ultrathin films of polydiallyldi-methylammonium chloride (PDDA)–polystyrenesulfonate sodium salt (PSS) film produced by the Layer-by-Layer (LbL) deposition technique. Multilayer thin film assemblies, fabricated by sequential adsorption of polyelectrolytes on a quartz substrate, were used as a supramolecular reaction template to study the in-situ nucleation and growth of ZnS nanoparticles. ZnS nanoparticles were nucleated within the polymeric supramolecular structure through cyclic expo-sure to the solutions of Zn(NO₃)₂ and thiourea. The growth and nucleation of nanoparticles were accomplished by a cyclic repetition of reductive hydrolysis reactions. The growth of a thin film on a flat substrate via LbL was monitored by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy. Analysis of the UV-visible absorption spectra of the films revealed that the nanoparticles grew with increasing number of cycles. The presence of ZnS nanoparticles were verified by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) showed that the ZnS has a cubic spheralite structure.

Keywords

Layer-by-Layer, Nanoparticles, Zinc Sulfide, Reducing Reaction, In-Situ Nucleation

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	J. Lee, S. Lee, S. Cho, S. Kim, I. Y. Park and Y. D. Choi, “Role of Growth Parameters on Structural and Optical Properties of Zns Nanocluster Thin Films Grown by Solution Growth Technique,” Materials Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 77, No. 1, 2002, pp. 254-260. doi:10.1016/S0254-0584(01)00563-6
[2]	Y. Li, Y. Zhu, C. Li, X. Yang and C. Li, “Synthesis of Zns Nanoparticles into the Pore of Mesoporous Silica Spheres,” Materials Letters. Vol. 63, No. 12, 2009, pp. 1068-1070. doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2009.02.007
[3]	F. G?de, C. Gümü? and M. Zor, “Investigation on the Physical Properties of the Polycrystalline Zns Thin Films Deposited by the Chemical Bath Deposition Method,” Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol. 299, No. 1, 2007, pp. 136-141. doi:10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2006.10.266
[4]	T. L. Chu, S. S. Chu, J. Britt, C. Feredikes and C. Q. Wu, “Cadmium Zinc Sulfide Films and Heterojunctions,” Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 70, No. 5, 1991, P. 2688. doi:10.1063/1.349384
[5]	T. B. Nasr, N. Kamoun and C. Guasch, “Physical Properties of ZnS Thin Films Prepared by Chemical Bath Deposition,” Applied Surface Science, Vol. 254, No. 16, 2008, pp. 5039-5043. doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2008.01.173
[6]	P. Prathap, N. Revathi, Y. P. Venkata Subbaiah and K. T. Ramakrishna Reddy, “Thickness Effect on the Microstructure, Morphology and Optoelectronic Properties of Zns Films,” Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, Vol. 20, No. 3, 2008, p. 035205. doi:10.1088/0953-8984/20/03/035205
[7]	Y. Wang, A. S. Angelatos and F. Caruso, “Template Synthesis of Nanostructured Materials Via Layer-By-Layer Assembly,” Chemistry of Materials, Vol. 20, No. 3, 2008, pp. 848-858. doi:10.1021/cm7024813
[8]	G. Yang, H. Ma, Z. Wu and P. Zhang, “Tribological behavior of ZnS-filled polyelectrolyte multilayers,” Wear, Vol. 262, No. 3-4, 2007, pp. 471-476. doi:10.1016/j.wear.2006.06.018
[9]	J. S. Ahn, P. T. Hammond, M. F. Rubner and I. Lee, “Self-Assembled Particle Monolayers on Polyelectrolyte Multilayers: Particle Size Effects on Formation, Structure, and Optical Properties,” Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, Vol. 259, 2005, pp. 45-53. doi:10.1016/j.colsurfa.2005.02.008
[10]	S. Promnimit, C. Cavelius, S. Mathur and J. Dutta, “Growth of Gold/Zinc Sulphide Multilayer Films Using Layer-by- Layer Assembly of Colloidal Nanoparticles,” Physica E, Vol. 41, 2008, pp. 285-291. doi:10.1016/j.physe.2008.07.013
[11]	A. M. Fojas, E. Murphy and P. Stroeve, “Layer-by-Layer Polymeric Supramolecular Structures Containing Nickel Hydroxide Nanoparticles and Microcrystallites,” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 41, No. 11, 2002, pp. 2662-2667.
[12]	L. Zhang, A. K. Dutta, G. Jarero and P. Stroeve, “Nucleation and growth of cobalt hydroxide crystallites in organized polymeric multilayers,” Langmuir, Vol. 16, No. 17, 2000, pp. 7095-7100. doi:10.1021/la000195o
[13]	A. K Dutta, G. Jarero, L. Zhang and P. Stroeve, “In-Situ Nucleation and Growth of γ-FeOOH Nanocrystallites in Polymeric Supramolecular Assemblies,” Chemistry of Material, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2000, pp. 176-181. doi:10.1021/cm990522h
[14]	A. K. Dutta, T. Ho, L. Zhang and P. Stroeve, “Nucleation and Growth of Lead Sulfide Nano-and Microcrystallites in Supramolecular Polymer Assemblies,” Chemistry of Material, Vol. 12, No. 4, 2000, pp. 1042-1048. doi:10.1021/cm990628c
[15]	S. Dante, Z. Hou, S. Risbud and P. Stroeve, “Nucleation of Iron oxy-Hydroxide Nanoparticles by Layer-by Layer Polyionic Assemblies, Langmuir, Vol. 15, No. 6, 1999, pp. 2176-2182. doi:10.1021/la980587j
[16]	C. Wang, E. Wang, Y. Lan, Q. Li, B. Mao and C. Tian, “Nucleation and Growth of Zno Nanocrystals in Polymer Films,” Thin Solid Films, Vol. 516, 2008, pp. 6058-6062. doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2007.10.132
[17]	G. Yang, Z-G Geng, H. Ma, Z. Wu and P. Zhang, “Preparation and Tribological Behavior of Cu-Nanoparticle Polyelectrolyte Multilayers Obtained by Spin-Assisted Layer-By-Layer Assembly,” Thin Solid Films, Vol. 517, 2009, pp. 1778-1783. doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2008.10.033
[18]	M. Logar, B. Jan?ar, A. Re?nik and D. Suvorov, “Controlled Synthesis of Pure and Doped Zns Nanoparticles in Weak Polyion Assemblies: Growth Characteristics and Fluorescence Properties, Nanotechnology, Vol. 20, No. 27, 2009, article ID 275601. doi:10.1088/0957-4484/20/27/275601
[19]	M. Logar, B. Jan?ar, A. Re?nik, D. Suvorov and R. Kostanj?ek, “In situ synthesis of Ag nanoparticles in polyelectrolyte multilayers, Nanotechnology, Vol. 18, No. 32, 2007, article ID 325601. doi:10.1088/0957-4484/18/32/325601
[20]	T. B. Nasr, N. Kamoun and C. Guasch, “Structure, Surface composition, and Electronic Properties of Zinc Sulphide Thin Films,” Materials Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 96 2006, pp. 84-89. doi:10.1016/j.matchemphys.2005.06.051
[21]	A. Antony, K. Y. Murali, R. Manoj and M. K. Jayaraj, “The Effect of the Ph Value on the Growth and Properties of Chemical-Bath-Deposition Zns Thin Films,” Materials Chemistry and Physics, Vol. 90 , 2005, pp. 06-110.
[22]	Y. Lan, B. Mao, E. Wang, Y. Song, Z. Kang, C. Wang, C. Tian, C. Zhang, L. Xu and Z. Li, “In Situ Fabrication of Hybrid Polyoxometalate Nanoparticles Composite Films,” Thin Solid Films, Vol. 515, 2007, pp. 3397-3401. doi:10.1016/j.tsf.2006.09.050