Optical properties of strongly luminescing mercaptoacetic-acid-capped ZnS nanoparticles

We synthesized zinc sulfide nanoparticles with mercaptoacetic acid as capping agent and obtained nanoparticles of different sizes. The optical properties of ZnS nanoclusters were studied by optical absorption and photoluminescence. High sample quality is reflected in sharp absorption features and strong band edge emission, which is tunable with particle size. The selectively excited luminescence properties and the coupling between electronic and vibrational excitation in ZnS nanoparticles are discussed.