Gamma-ray Radiation Method To Prepare Nano Chalcogenides And Their Polymer Composites

γ-Irradiation method has been successfully extended to synthesize chalcogenides i.e. CdS, ZnS, PbS, CuS, CdSe, PbSe, Cu2-xSe and chalcogenides/polymer nanocomposites (polymer: polyacrylonitrile, polyacrylamide, poly/vinyl acetate) have been synthesized in aqueous solution or nonaqueous solution. The morphology of as-prepared chalcogenides has been successfully controlled. The formation of CdS with sphalerite and wurtzite structure can be controlled using different sulfur sources in different solvents. Roughly, the sulfur sources and solvents with less polarity tend to produce the hexagonal wurtzite phase, while those with strong polarity to produce the cubic sphalerite phase. On the other hand, nanocrystalline PbS and CuS have been synthesized using carbon disulfide as sulfur source. Nanocrystalline CdSe and Cu2-xSe were successfully synthesized using Na2SeSO3 as selenium source. In addition, pure nanocrystalline PbSe was successfully obtained from an ethylenediamine solution containing lead acetate and elemental selenium. The solvent selected is amine, rather than the aqueous or alcohol solvents. This successful extension of the irradiation systems will no doubt expand the application of γ-irradiation method. γ-Irradiation was successfully used to prepare inorganic/organic nanocomposites, in which the inorganic component, i.e. CdS, CdSe, and PbS, dispersed homogeneously in the polymer matrix, i.e. polyacrylonitrile and polyacrylamide. The polymerization of monomer and the formation of chalcogenides were carried out in a single step. The growth of the inorganic nanocrystalline and the morphology has been successfully controlled. New soft-hard transformation template, which possesses merits of both soft and hard template, has been successfully used to synthesize low-dimensional inorganic-organic nanocomposites under γ-irradiation at room temperature and in ambient pressure.