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Fluorescent nanoparticles known as quantum dots (QDs) have unique properties that make them useful in biomedicine. Specifically, CdSe/ZnS QDs, while good at fluorescing, show toxicity. Due to this, safer alternatives have been developed. This study uses a tetrazolium dye (XTT) viability assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) fluorescent imaging, and apoptosis to investigate the effect of QD alternatives InP/ZnS, CuInS2/ZnS, and nitrogen-doped carbon dots (NCDs) in liver cells. The liver is a possible destination for the accumulation of QDs, making it an appropriate model for testing. A cancerous liver cell line known as HepG2 and an immortalized liver cell line known as THLE-2 were used. At a nanomolar range of 10–150, HepG2 cells demonstrated no reduced cell viability after 24 h. The XTT viability assay demonstrated that CdSe/ZnS and CuInS2/ZnS show reduced cell viability in THLE-2 cells with concentrations between 50 and 150 nM. Furthermore, CdSe/ZnS- and CuInS2/ZnS-treated THLE-2 cells generated ROS as early as 6 h after treatment and elevated apoptosis after 24 h. To further corroborate our results, apoptosis assays revealed an increased percentage of cells in the early stages of apoptosis for CdSe/ZnS-treated (52%) and CuInS2/ZnS-treated (38%) THLE-2. RNA transcriptomics revealed heavy downregulation of cell adhesion pathways such as wnt, cadherin, and integrin in all QDs except NCDs. In conclusion, NCDs show the least toxicity toward these two liver cell lines. While demonstrating less toxicity than CdSe/ZnS, the metallic QDs (InP/ZnS and CuInS2/ZnS) still demonstrate potential concerns in liver cells. This study serves to explore the toxicity of QD alternatives and better understand their cellular interactions.

It is known that doping zinc sulfide (ZnS) nanoparticles with Mn or Cu ions significantly affects their luminescent properties. Herein, we investigated how dopant atoms are incorporated into the structure of ZnS using X-ray diffraction and multi-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The observed broadening of the X-ray diffraction patterns indicates an average crystallite size of about 6 nm. By analyzing the Zn, Mn, and Cu K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra using the reverse Monte Carlo method, we were able to determine the relaxations of the local environments around the dopants. Our findings suggested that upon the substitution of Zn by Mn or Cu ions, there is a shortening of the Cu–S bonds by 0.08 Å, whereas the Mn–S bonds exhibited lengthening by 0.07 Å. These experimental results were further confirmed by first-principles density functional theory calculations, which explained the increase in the Mn–S bond lengths due to the high-spin state of Mn2+ ions.

In the present study, the photocatalytic performance of ZnS/TiO 2 nanocomposite was investigated through the photodegradation of Acid Blue 113 (AB113) dye under ultraviolet light exposure. TiO 2 and ZnS-based nanocomposites suffer from relatively wide bandgap energy and low adsorption capacity which limit their photocatalytic applications. These problems can be suppressed by modifying the surface of nanocomposite particles by the non-thermal plasma. Herein, surface modification of the ZnS/TiO 2 nanocomposite was performed using a dielectric-barrier discharge plasma under nitrogen (N 2 ) and tetrafluoromethane (CF 4 ) gases. The characteristics of the plasma-treated nanocomposites were evaluated by XRD, FTIR, Raman, FESEM, EDS, BET, BJH, and DRS analyses. According to the results, by applying plasma treatment, cation and anion vacancies are produced that reduces the band gap energy of the photocatalyst hence improves its performance. The results indicate that the photocatalytic efficiency of the N 2 -plasma-treated nanocatalyst has been almost two times higher than that of the untreated ZnS/TiO 2 . It was found that after 25 min of UV irradiation, the AB113 was almost completely degraded in the presence of N 2 -plasma-treated ZnS/TiO 2 nanocomposite (about 95%), whereas, it was degraded by 64% and 46% in the presence of CF 4 -plasma-treated ZnS/TiO 2 and untreated ZnS/TiO 2 , respectively. This study presents a new approach to designing cost-effective plasma-treated photocatalysts to degrade organic contaminants in wastewater.

Zinc Sulphide thin films were grown by chemical spray pyrolysis. The influence of substrate temperature ST (250, 350 and 450°C) on structural and optical characterization is investigated. XRD Patterns of the synthesized film show the preferred orientation of (111) planes, confirming the Cubic structure of ZnS, The Grain size for pure of ZnS particle is about (19.05-32.80) nm with substrate temperature, whereas the strain (%) parameter decrease from 18.17 to 10.56. Surface topogrphy is studied by atomic force microscope (AFM). The grain size is observed in the area of (86.73), (78.74) and (77.58) nm for the substrate temperature (250, 350 and 300°C) respectively. band gap energy was set to decrease a bit with the increment of ST and was in area of 3.85-3.65 eV.

Copper indium sulfide (CuInS 2 ) exhibits strong visible light absorption and thus has the potential for good photocatalytic activity; however, rapid charge recombination limits its practical usage. An intriguing strategy to overcome this issue is to couple CuInS 2 with another semiconductor to form a heterojunction, which can improve the charge carrier separation and, hence, enhance the photocatalytic activity. In this study, photocatalysts comprising CuInS 2 with a secondary CuS phase (termed CuIn x S y ) and CuIn x S y loaded with ZnS (termed ZnS@CuIn x S y ) were synthesized via a microwave-assisted method. Structural and morphological characterization revealed that the ZnS@CuIn x S y photocatalyst comprised tetragonal CuInS 2 containing a secondary phase of hexagonal CuS, coupled with hexagonal ZnS. The effective band gap energy of CuIn x S y was widened from 2.23 to 2.71 as the ZnS loading increased from 0 to 30%. The coupling of CuIn x S y with ZnS leads to long-lived charge carriers and efficient visible-light harvesting properties, which in turn lead to a remarkably high activity for the photocatalytic degradation of brilliant green (95.6% in 5 h) and conversion of 4-nitrophenol to 4-nitrophenolate ions (95.4% in 5 h). The active species involved in these photocatalytic processes were evaluated using suitable trapping agents. Based on the obtained results, photocatalytic mechanisms are proposed that emphasize the importance of h + , O 2 •– , and OH − in photocatalytic processes using ZnS@CuIn x S y .

Flexible and easily reconfigurable supercapacitors show great promise for application in wearable electronics. In this study, multiwall C nanotubes （CNTs） decorated with hierarchical ultrathin zinc sulfide （ZnS） nanosheets （ZnS@CNT） are synthesized via a facile method. The resulting ZnS@CNT electrode, which delivers a high specific capacitance of 347.3 F·g^-1 and an excellent cycling stability, can function as a high-performance electrode for a flexible all-solid-state supercapacitor using a polymer gel electrolyte. Our device exhibits a remarkable specific capacitance of 159.6 F·g^-1, a high energy density of 22.3 W·h·kg^-1, and a power density of 5 kW·kg^-1 It also has high electrochemical performance even under bending or twisting. The all-solid-state supercapacitors can be easily integrated in series to power different commercial light-emitting diodes without an external bias voltage.

In the present work, we report a simple synthetic strategy for fabricating ZnCuInS/ZnS–TPPS4 conjugates and study its cytotoxicity as a promising material for imaging and phototherapy applications. The quaternary QDs were synthesized using eco-friendly materials such as glutathione and water as a solvent, while the anionic 10,15,20-(4-sulphonatophenyl) porphyrin (TPPS4) was synthesized via the acidification of a meso-tetraphenylporphyrin precursor. Interest in TPPS4 results from its high-water dispersity, stability, and ability to generate singlet oxygen. Conjugation of ZnCuInS/ZnS QDs with TPPS4 was performed by titrating porphyrin with different amounts of ZnCuInS/ZnS QDs while keeping all other experimental parameters constant. Comparative analysis of the conjugate to the bare QDs and porphyrin revealed enhanced spectral and photophysical properties. Comparative cytotoxicity assays were performed for TPPS4 and ZnCuInS/ZnS–TPPS4 conjugates in BHK21, Hela, A549, Hek 293 and B16-F10 Nex 2 cell lines using the MTT cell viability assay. The results showed negligible in vitro cytotoxicity indicating the conjugate is an excellent and biocompatible candidate for imaging and phototherapy applications.

In this study, CuInS2/ZnS nanocrystals were synthesized by a two-step mechanochemical synthesis for the first time. In the first step, tetragonal CuInS2 was prepared from copper, indium and sulphur precursors. The obtained CuInS2 was further co-milled with zinc acetate dihydrate and sodium sulphide nonahydrate as precursors for cubic ZnS. Structural characterization of the CuInS2/ZnS nanocrystals was performed by X-ray diffraction analysis, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Specific surface area of the product (86 m2/g) was measured by low-temperature nitrogen adsorption method and zeta potential of the particles dispersed in water was calculated from measurements of their electrophoretic mobility. Optical properties of the nanocrystals were determined using photoluminescence emission spectroscopy.

Remarkable efforts have been dedicated to developing energy storage devices with hybrid design and nano-scale approaches. This study used a hydrothermal technique to synthesize pure and Mn-doped ZnS/ZnO hybrid nanocomposites. The chemical composition and crystallinity of ZnS/ZnO nanoparticles were confirmed by XRD analysis. The morphology of the nanocomposites was studied by scanning electron microscopy, which demonstrated their oval-shaped formation. Moreover, the variation of DC conductivity (σ) was observed to be directly proportional to the temperature. Electrical measurements demonstrated that the electrical resistivity (ρd.c) increased with doping at the same applied voltage. Therefore, the synthesized materials have a significant dielectric performance that may direct their application in energy storage devices.

The aim of the present study was to prepare ZnS nanoparticles co-doped with Li + -Cs + , were synthesized using a chemical co-precipitation method. The ZnS-(Li + -Cs + ) nanoparticle’s were capped with L- Arginine and reduced using sodium sulphide. The main advantage of this method is to synthesized semiconductor nanomaterial with wide band gap and nanoparticles are chemically stable over a long time. The as prepared nanoparticles were characterised by X-Ray Diffraction technique for phase analysis of the sample. Particle size is found in the range of 2 to 4 nm calculated by Debye Scherer method. XRD confirms the evolution of stable cubic zinc blend phase of ZnS nanoparticles. The strong interaction between the capping agent L- arginine, Zn and S is revealed from the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrum.