Composition Variation and Thermal Treatment of Zn_xCd_1−xS Alloy Nanoparticles to Exhibit Controlled and Efficient Luminescence

ZnxCd1-xS (0 <= x <= 1) alloy nanoparticles have been fabricated facilely using ethylenediamme as a solvent-coordinating molecular template in water ZnxCd1-xS (x = 0 5) alloy nanoparticles or single-crystalline wurtzite structures having no staking faults have been constructed homogeneously to show that they are intermediate between ZnS and CdS in d-spacing and 2 theta values The photoluminescence of ZnxCd1-xS alloy nanoparticles shifts largely to the blue with the composition increase of Zn to have the shortest wavelength at x = 0.9 (lambda(max) = 480 nm for CdS, 396 nm for Zn0.9Cd0.1S, 424 tun for ZnS) The thermal treatment of as-prepared ZnxCd1-xS alloy nanopaiticles at 120 degrees C for 10 h has been found to increase photoluminescence intensity and lifetime by a factor of 5. This Mei ease has been attributed to the decomposition of coordinated water molecules during annealing processes