PREPARATION OF CORE/SHELL ZNS/CDS NANOPARTICLES AND THEIR PHOTOCATALYTIC PROPERTIES

Semiconductor ZnS/CdS core/shell nanoparticles with 1, 2 and 3 shells were prepared by a two step precipitation procedure at room temperature. In the first step ZnS core nanoparticles were synthesized by precipitation of zinc acetate with sodium sulphide in aqueous solutions stabilized by a cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). In the second step CdS shells were created by adding drops of cadmium acetate into the previous solutions. The Materials Studio software was used to determine theoretically required amounts of CdS to create a specific number of shells. Energy gaps of ZnS/CdS nanoparticles were determined from their UV-Vis spectra by the Tauc method [ 1]. The molecular modelling results were verified by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and a photocatalytic decomposition of methylene blue (MB) in aqueous solutions under UV irradiation.