Straight ZnS nanobelts with wurtzite structure synthesized by the vapour phase transport process and their crystallization and photoluminescence properties

Single-crystalline wurtzite ZnS nanobelts were synthesized by the VPT process for the first time in the presence of Au catalyst on the Si substrates. Each ZnS nanobelt is fairly straight. The ZnS nanobelts are 50–100 µm in length, 150–600 nm in width and 3–10 in ratio of the width to the thickness. The crystalline directions along the length and the width dimensions of the ZnS nanobelts are perpendicular to and make angles within the range 0°–15° to and [0001] crystalline directions, respectively. Strong near-band-edge emission at 344 nm was detected.