Synthesis and Characterization of Semiconductor Nanoparticles in Microporous and Mesoporous Molecular sieves

Cobalt sulfide nanoparticles were introduced in the medium and meso-pore molecular sieves (ZSM-5 (MFI) zeolite and AlMCM-41 material) by the addition of cobalt sulfate to the synthesis gel in hydrothermal molecular sieves synthesis. The approach was systematically studied in the presence of tetraethylammonium ions as organic structure-directing agents. The materials were characterized by chemical analysis, XRD, SEM, BET, EDX, IR and UV-Visible spectroscopy. SEM picture and BET is used to discriminate between CoS nanoparticles in the zeolite pores and on the outer crystal surface. Their crystalline structure and morphology were studied by XRD and scanning electron microscopy. Results show that nanoparticles growth into channels of the MCM-41 mesostructure but ZSM-5 Zeolite acts as a templating agent preventing the growth of CoS particles during the precipitation process.

Keywords:

CoS nanoparticles , ZSM-5 zeolite , MCM-41 materials , UV-Visible spectroscopy , hydrothermal method