Cadmium ethylxanthate: A novel single-source precursor for the preparation of CdS nanoparticles

CdS nanoparticles capped with tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) have been synthesised by a single-source route using cadmium ethylxanthate as a precursor. The nanoparticles obtained show quantum size effects in the optical absorption spectra and the photoluminescence shows an emission maximum that is characteristically red shifted in relation to the band edge. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern shows the material to be hexagonal with a calculated particle size (from the Scherrer equation) of 3.9 nm. The size of the particles is confirmed by the transmission electron microscope (TEM) image, which shows well-defined, spherical particles with an average size of 4.2 nm +/- 10%.