Dc conductivity of consolidated nanoparticles of zinc sulfide.

Zinc sulfide nanoparticles with average grain sizes ranging from 3 to 12 nm were prepared by arrested chemical preparation, followed by suitable thermal processing. The size of the grains was determined by x-ray line broadening. Dc measurement was performed on compacts of nanoparticles using a Keithley electrometer in the temperature range of 313-423 K. The dc conductivity, σdc, of our samples is much higher than that of ZnS single crystals; σdc increases with a decrease in the grain size.