Structure of cadmium sulfide nanoparticle micelle in aqueous solutions

Abstract

The structure of cadmium sulfide (CdS) micelle in stable aqueous solution of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid was determined by dynamic light scattering, small-angle X-ray scattering and neutron scattering. The micelle aggregate is a single CdS nanoparticle with an average size of about 3 nm, the nanoparticle organic shell and the solvation shell are about 1 nm and 5 nm thick, respectively. These parameters were confirmed by the scanning semi-contact atomic force microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction studies of dry micelle cores isolated by high-speed centrifugation. The CdS micelle was correctly described by a simple double-shell model and was found to possess the structure corresponding to CdS quantum dots. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.