Chemical deposition of nanocrystalline lead sulfide powders with controllable particle size

For the first time the systematic study of the effect of synthesis conditions (concentrations of reactants, the presence or lack of a complexing agent and its type, the exposure time of deposited PbS particles in the matrix solution) on the size of lead sulfide nanoparticles, their phase composition and the presence of impurity phases is performed. PbS nanopowders are synthesized by deposition from aqueous solutions of lead acetate and sodium sulfide in the presence of EDTA-H2Na2 or sodium citrate. It is found that the phase composition of the deposit and the size of the nanoparticles depend on the initial concentrations of lead and sulfur ions, the presence and type of complexing agents, as well as on the quantitative ratio between the content of lead ions and complexing ions in the solution. The possibility of controllable hydrochemical deposition of PbS nanoparticles with preassigned size from 5 to 55 nm is shown. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.