MECHANOCHEMICAL SYNTHESIS OF ULTRAFINE ZINC-SULFIDE PARTICLES

The synthesis of nano-sized ZnS particles by the mechanochemical solid -state reaction of ZnCl2 and CaS has been investigated using X-ray dif fraction, TEM and DTA measurements. Mechanical milling of ZnCl2 and Ca S resulted in the formation of similar to 500 nm ZnS particles contain ing aggregates of 12 nm crystallites. The addition of 71 vol% CaCl2 as a diluent to the reactants resulted in the formation of separated 16 nm particles of ZnS. Using mechanically alloyed CaS (10-50 nm particle size) enabled the synthesis of isolated ZnS particles 7-9 nm in size. The effects of milling time and subsequent annealing on particle size have also been investigated.