Sintering behaviour and microstructures of nanostructured ZnO–ZnS core–shell powder by spark plasma sintering

Abstract

Densification of nanostructured ZnO–ZnS core–shell powder was carried out by spark plasma sintering to produce a bulk ZnO–ZnS composite. By adjusting the sintering temperature, we could fabricate a bulk ZnO–ZnS composite without destroying the original core–shell structure of the powder. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the microstructural properties of the core–shell powder and its sintering behaviour. During spark plasma sintering, phase transition from a sphalerite to a wurtzite structure was observed in the ZnS shell and the crystallographic orientation of the ZnS shell was affected by the ZnO core.

Keywords:

• ZnO
• ZnS
• core-shell
• spark plasma sintering
• transmission electron microscopy

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Research Center Program (CA1201) of IBS (Institute for Basic Science) in Korea, and also supported by a grant from the Fundamental R&D Program for Core Technology of Materials (K0006007) funded by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, Republic of Korea.