Zinc sulfide is a
inorganic compoundInorganic compounds have traditionally been considered to be of inanimate, non-biological origin. In contrast, organic compounds have an explicit biological origin. However, over the past century, the classification of inorganic vs organic compounds has become less important to scientists,...
with the
formulaA chemical formula or molecular formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound....
ZnZinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
SA sulfide is an anion of sulfur in its lowest oxidation state of 2-. Sulfide is also a slightly archaic term for thioethers, a common type of organosulfur compound that are well known for their bad odors.- Properties :...
. ZnS is the main form of zinc in nature, where it mainly occurs as the mineral
sphaleriteSphalerite is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc. It consists largely of zinc sulfide in crystalline form but almost always contains variable iron. When iron content is high it is an opaque black variety, marmatite. It is usually found in association with galena, pyrite, and other sulfides...
. Although the mineral is black owing to impurities, the pure material is white and is in fact used widely as a pigment.
Structure of ZnS
ZnS exists in two main forms, and this dualism is often a textbook example of
polymorphismPolymorphism or dimorphism may refer to:-Biology:* Polymorphism , including:** having multiple phenotypes within a population; the switch that determines which phenotype an individual displays can be genetic or environmental...
. In both polymorphs, the coordination geometry at Zn and S are tetrahedral. The more stable form cubic form is known also as zinc blende or
sphaleriteSphalerite is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc. It consists largely of zinc sulfide in crystalline form but almost always contains variable iron. When iron content is high it is an opaque black variety, marmatite. It is usually found in association with galena, pyrite, and other sulfides...
. The hexagonal form is known as the mineral
wurtziteWurtzite is a zinc iron sulfide mineral a less frequently encountered mineral form of sphalerite. The iron content is variable up to eight percent. It is trimorphous with matraite and sphalerite....
, although it also can be produced synthetically. The transition from the sphalerite form to the wurtzite form occurs at around 1020 °C. A tetragonal form is also known as the very rare mineral called polhemusite, with the formula (Zn,Hg)S.
Luminescent material
Zinc sulfide, with addition of few ppm of suitable
activatorIn phosphors and scintillators, the activator is the element added as dopant to the crystal of the material to create desired type of nonhomogeneities....
, is used as
phosphorA phosphor, most generally, is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence. Somewhat confusingly, this includes both phosphorescent materials, which show a slow decay in brightness , and fluorescent materials, where the emission decay takes place over tens of nanoseconds...
in many applications, from
cathode ray tubeThe cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
s through
x-rayX-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
screens to
glow in the darkPhosphorescence is a specific type of photoluminescence related to fluorescence. Unlike fluorescence, a phosphorescent material does not immediately re-emit the radiation it absorbs. The slower time scales of the re-emission are associated with "forbidden" energy state transitions in quantum...
products. When
silverSilver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
is used as activator, the resulting color is bright blue, with maximum at 450
nmA nanometre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a metre. The name combines the SI prefix nano- with the parent unit name metre .The nanometre is often used to express dimensions on the atomic scale: the diameter...
.
ManganeseManganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
yields an orange-red color at around 590 nm.
CopperCopper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
provides long glow time and the familiar glow-in-the-dark greenish color. Copper-doped zinc sulfide ("ZnS+Cu") is used also in
electroluminescentElectroluminescence is an optical phenomenon and electrical phenomenon in which a material emits light in response to the passage of an electric current or to a strong electric field...
panels. It also exhibits
phosphorescencePhosphorescence is a specific type of photoluminescence related to fluorescence. Unlike fluorescence, a phosphorescent material does not immediately re-emit the radiation it absorbs. The slower time scales of the re-emission are associated with "forbidden" energy state transitions in quantum...
due to impurities on illumination with blue or
ultravioletUltraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...
light.
Optical material
Zinc sulfide is also used as an
infraredInfrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
optical material, transmitting from visible
wavelengthIn physics, the wavelength of a sinusoidal wave is the spatial period of the wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.It is usually determined by considering the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase, such as crests, troughs, or zero crossings, and is a...
s to over 12
micrometreA micrometer , is by definition 1×10-6 of a meter .In plain English, it means one-millionth of a meter . Its unit symbol in the International System of Units is μm...
s. It can be used planar as an
optical windowThe meaning of this term depends on the context:* In astronomy, the optical window is the optical portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that passes through the atmosphere all the way to the ground...
or shaped into a
lensA lens is an optical device with perfect or approximate axial symmetry which transmits and refracts light, converging or diverging the beam. A simple lens consists of a single optical element...
. It is made as
microcrystallineA microcrystalline material is a crystallized substance or rock that contains small crystals visible only through microscopic examination.-See also:* Macrocrystalline* Microcrystalline silicon* Protocrystalline* Rock microstructure...
sheets by the synthesis from
hydrogen sulfideHydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
gas and zinc vapour and sold as FLIR (Forward Looking IR) grade ZnS a pale milky yellow visibly opaque form. This material when
hot isostatically pressedHot isostatic pressing is a manufacturing process used to reduce the porosity of metals and influence the density of many ceramic materials. This improves the material's mechanical properties and workability....
(HIPed) can be converted to a water-clear form known as
Cleartran (trademark). Early commercial forms were marketed as
Irtran-2 but this designation is now obsolete.
Pigment
Zinc sulfide is a common pigment. When compounded with barium sulfate, zinc sulfide forms
lithoponeLithophone is a white pigment consisting of a mixture of barium sulfate and zinc sulfide. It is used in interior paints and in some enamels. It is widely used for white paint.-History:...
.
Semiconductor properties
Both sphalerite and wurtzite are intrinsic, wide-bandgap
semiconductorA semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
s. It is a prototypical II-VI semiconductors and adopts structures related to many other semiconductors such as gallium arsenide. The cubic form has a
band gapIn solid state physics, a band gap, also called an energy gap or bandgap, is an energy range in a solid where no electron states can exist. In graphs of the electronic band structure of solids, the band gap generally refers to the energy difference between the top of the valence band and the...
of 3.54 eV at 300
KThe kelvin is a unit of measurement for temperature. It is one of the seven base units in the International System of Units and is assigned the unit symbol K. The Kelvin scale is an absolute, thermodynamic temperature scale using as its null point absolute zero, the temperature at which all...
whereas the hexagonal form has a band gap of 3.91 eV. It can be doped as both
n-type semiconductorN-type semiconductors are a type of extrinsic semiconductor where the dopant atoms are capable of providing extra conduction electrons to the host material . This creates an excess of negative electron charge carriers....
and
p-type semiconductorA P-type semiconductor is obtained by carrying out a process of doping: that is, adding a certain type of atoms to the semiconductor in order to increase the number of free charge carriers ....
.
History
The
phosphorescencePhosphorescence is a specific type of photoluminescence related to fluorescence. Unlike fluorescence, a phosphorescent material does not immediately re-emit the radiation it absorbs. The slower time scales of the re-emission are associated with "forbidden" energy state transitions in quantum...
of ZnS was first reported by the French chemist
Théodore SidotThéodore Sidot was a French chemist who in 1866 discovered the phosphorescence of Zinc sulphide. He worked at the Lycée Charlemagne in Paris, as chemistry preparator. He was injured in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War at the Fort de Nogent. He received the 1883 Prix Trémont of the Académie des Sciences....
in 1866. His findings were presented by
A. E. BecquerelAlexandre-Edmond Becquerel , known as Edmond Becquerel, was a French physicist who studied the solar spectrum, magnetism, electricity, and optics. He is known for his work in luminescence and phosphorescence. He is credited with the discovery of the photovoltaic effect, the operating principle of...
, who was renowned for the research on
luminescenceLuminescence is emission of light by a substance not resulting from heat; it is thus a form of cold body radiation. It can be caused by chemical reactions, electrical energy, subatomic motions, or stress on a crystal. This distinguishes luminescence from incandescence, which is light emitted by a...
. ZnS was used by
Ernest RutherfordErnest Rutherford, 1st Baron Rutherford of Nelson OM, FRS was a New Zealand-born British chemist and physicist who became known as the father of nuclear physics...
and others in the early years of
nuclear physicsNuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the building blocks and interactions of atomic nuclei. The most commonly known applications of nuclear physics are nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons technology, but the research has provided application in many fields, including those...
as a
scintillationA scintillator is a special material, which exhibits scintillation—the property of luminescence when excited by ionizing radiation. Luminescent materials, when struck by an incoming particle, absorb its energy and scintillate, i.e., reemit the absorbed energy in the form of light...
detector, because it emits light upon excitation by x-rays or electron beam, making it useful for X-ray screens and
cathode ray tubeThe cathode ray tube is a vacuum tube containing an electron gun and a fluorescent screen used to view images. It has a means to accelerate and deflect the electron beam onto the fluorescent screen to create the images. The image may represent electrical waveforms , pictures , radar targets and...
s.
Production
Zinc sulfide is usually produced from waste materials from other applications. Typical sources include smelter, slag, and pickle liquors. It is also a
by-productA by-product is a secondary product derived from a manufacturing process or chemical reaction. It is not the primary product or service being produced.A by-product can be useful and marketable or it can be considered waste....
of the synthesis of
ammoniaAmmonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
from
methaneMethane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
where zinc oxide is used to scavenge hydrogen sulfide impurities in the natural gas:
- ZnO + H2S → ZnS + H2O
Laboratory preparation
It is easily produced by igniting a mixture of
zincZinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
and
sulfurSulfur or sulphur is the chemical element with atomic number 16. In the periodic table it is represented by the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with chemical formula S8. Elemental sulfur is a bright yellow...
.
Since zinc sulfide is insoluble in water, solutions containing Zn
2+ salts readily form a precipitate ZnS in the presence of
sulfideA sulfide is an anion of sulfur in its lowest oxidation state of 2-. Sulfide is also a slightly archaic term for thioethers, a common type of organosulfur compound that are well known for their bad odors.- Properties :...
ions (e.g., from
H2SHydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
).
- Zn2+ + S2− → ZnS
This reaction is the basis of a
gravimetric analysisGravimetric analysis describes a set of methods in analytical chemistry for the quantitative determination of an analyte based on the mass of a solid...
for zinc.
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