SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ZINC-SULFIDE GALLIUM-PHOSPHIDE NANOCOMPOSITE POWDERS

Nanocomposite powders between zinc sulfide and gallium phosphide were synthesized. Monodisperse, submicrometer, spherical, and porous cluste rs of ZnS nanocrystallites were used as a host material, into which a solution containing a phosphinogallane, [(t-Bu)(2)GaPR(2)](x) wherein R = i-Pr, x = 2 or R = t-Bu, x = 1, was impregnated. The pure ZnS powd ers and the composite powders obtained after flash pyrolysis at 600 de grees C were subsequently heat-treated at various temperatures ranging from 500 degrees to 900 degrees C and characterized using a variety o f techniques. While pure ZnS powders undergo significant grain growth and morphology change at temperatures as low as 600 degrees C, the com posite powders maintain their integrity up to 800 degrees C.