Effects of L-Cysteine on the Photoluminescence Properties of ZnO:S Quantum Dots

Abstract

ZnO:S quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized by a microwave hydrothermal method. The effects of L-cysteine (L-cys) on the crystal structure, size, morphology, band gap energy and photoluminescence (PL) properties were studied by XRD, EDS, TEM, FTIR, DRS and PL spectroscopy, respectively. The XRD results showed that all samples had a wurtzite structure ZnO crystal structure and the average crystallite size was 8.4, 5.8, and 9.2 nm for ZnO, ZnO:S and L-cys capped ZnO:S (LZOS) QDs, respectively. The EDS, HRTEM and FTIR results confirmed L-cys was capped on the surface of ZnO:S QDs. It was found that the band gap energy was 3.25, 3.29 and 3.31 eV for ZnO, ZnO:S and LZOS QDs, successively. PL spectrum of ZnO QDs showed two emission peaks in the UV and visible region, respectively. When doping S into ZnO, the intensity of the UV emission reduced, while the intensity of the visible emission dramatically increased. Also, L-cys coated obviously enhanced the PL intensity of ZnO:S QDs. This work suggested that LZOS QDs could be applied in luminescent devices.