Synthesis and Characterization of Metal Sulfides Nanoparticles/Poly(methyl methacrylate) Nanocomposites

Metal sulfides nanoparticles in poly(methyl methacrylate) matrices were prepared and characterized by infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The FTIR confirms the dispersion of the nanoparticles in PMMA matrices with the C=O and C-O-C bonds of the PMMA shifting slightly which may be attributed to the interactions between the nanoparticles and PMMA. The ZnS nanoparticles in PMMA have average crystallite sizes of 4-7 nm while the CdS has particle size of 10 nm and HgS has crystallite sizes of 8-20 nm. The increasing order of particle sizes as calculated from the XRD is ZnS/PMMA<HgS/PMMA<CdS/PMMA and ranges from 1.02 to 1.35 nm. These calculated particle sizes are smaller than the values obtained from TEM.