Ultraviolet emission of ZnS nanoparticles confined within a functionalized mesoporous host

A highly loaded ZnS nanoparticle (NP) array within mesoporous channels was prepared by repetitive insertion of ZnS reverse micelles. Contrary to the ZnS NPs in the water pool of reverse micelles exhibiting blue emission, the ZnS NPs incorporated within the organically functionalized mesoporous channels showed the emission in the ultraviolet region with a single recombination lifetime of 1.3 +/- 0.2 ns. Such optical characteristics are considered to dominantly originate from the potential traps of lattice sulfur vacancies existing in the confined ZnS NPs within the fit size of the functionalized host pore channels.