Thermoplastic Polymer Domain for Synthesis of Manganese Sulphide Nanoparticles by Simple Solid–Solid Reaction

The present work envisages a simple and effective method for in-situ synthesis of manganese sulphide nanoparticles in thermally stable polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) matrix. Solid–solid reaction was accomplished by reacting manganese acetate and thiourea (as an external chalcogen source) at 285 °C, the melting temperature of polymer. The resultant products were characterised by physico-chemical techniques for phase identification, morphology determination and study of optical and thermal properties. X-ray diffraction revealed the formation of mixed phases of α-MnS and γ-MnS. FESEM and HRTEM images showed the formation of cubic as well as spherical nanoscale morphology depending upon the reaction conditions. A characteristic reduction in the melting temperatures of the nanocomposite samples as compared to pure PPS was observed by differential scanning calorimetry. The photoluminescence spectra showed a band-edge emission at 366 nm corresponding to manganese sulphide.