Facile route to synthesize multiwalled carbon nanotube/zinc sulfide heterostructures: optical and electrical properties

Jimin Du; Lei Fu; Zhimin Liu; Buxing Han; Zhonghao Li; Yunqi Liu; Zhenyu Sun; Daoben Zhu

doi:10.1021/jp051284i

Facile route to synthesize multiwalled carbon nanotube/zinc sulfide heterostructures: optical and electrical properties

J Phys Chem B. 2005 Jul 7;109(26):12772-6. doi: 10.1021/jp051284i.

Authors

Jimin Du¹, Lei Fu, Zhimin Liu, Buxing Han, Zhonghao Li, Yunqi Liu, Zhenyu Sun, Daoben Zhu

Affiliation

¹ Center for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China.

PMID: 16852583
DOI: 10.1021/jp051284i

Abstract

A simple method to decorate the multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with ZnS nanospheres has been developed. The method involves ultrasonic pretreatment and heat treatments of MWCNTs, zinc chloride, and thiourea in ethanol. The heterostructures have been characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Comparative experiments show that both ultrasonic treatment and heat treatment are necessary for synthesizing the MWCNTs/ZnS heterostructures. Moreover, a photoluminescence spectrum shows that the MWCNTs/ZnS heterostructures feature a broad blue emission at about 430 nm, indicating that there exists significant ground-state interaction between ZnS nanospheres and MWCNTs. Meanwhile, the current-voltage characteristic of the MWCNTs/ZnS exhibits clear rectifying behavior, revealing charge transfer between MWCNTs and ZnS nanospheres.