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 diffraction, TEM and DTA measurements. Mechanical milling of ZnCl2 and CaS resulted in the formation of similar to 500 nm ZnS particles containing 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.