ZnS

Zinc sulfide · Sphalerite, Wurtzite

Zinc sulfide is a chemical compound that appears as a white to off-white powder or crystal. It is widely recognized for its luminescent properties and is frequently utilized in technologies that require light emission or detection.

Crystal structure of ZnS (trigonal, P3m1 (No. 156))
Ground-state structure · Materials Project
Overview

Key Properties

Cross-validated computational properties for Zinc sulfide, aggregated across 4 databases.

Band Gap

0.11–2.09 eV
Range across DFT structures

Energy Above Hull

0.000 eV/atom
Best (lowest) across sources

Stability

On hull (stable)
2 DFT sources

Structures

344
4 databases, 21 space groups
Crystallography

Reported Structures

Lowest-energy structures reported for ZnS, ranked by energy above hull.

Space GroupCrystal SystemBand Gap (eV)E above hull (eV/atom)E/atom (eV)Density (g/cm³)
P3m1 (No. 156)trigonal2.020.0000-9.4354.14
P3m1 (No. 156)trigonal2.020.0000-9.4354.14
P3m1 (No. 156)trigonal2.020.0000-9.4354.14
P3m1 (No. 156)trigonal1.990.0001-9.4354.14
P63mc (No. 186)hexagonal2.020.0001-9.4354.14
P3m1 (No. 156)trigonal2.020.0001-9.4354.14
P3m1 (No. 156)trigonal2.020.0001-9.4354.14
F-43m (No. 216)cubic2.020.0001-9.4354.14
P63mc (No. 186)hexagonal2.020.0002-9.4354.14
P3m1 (No. 156)trigonal2.020.0002-9.4354.14
P3m1 (No. 156)trigonal2.020.0002-9.4354.14
P3m1 (No. 156)trigonal2.020.0002-9.4354.13
Synthesis

Synthesis Routes

Literature-extracted synthesis procedures targeting ZnS.

Sol-Gel
Procedure available · ceder_solid_state
Uses

Applications

Where Zinc sulfide is used.

Phosphors for cathode ray tubesInfrared optical componentsX-ray screensPigmentsSemiconductor devices
Reference

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Zinc sulfide, answered from cross-validated data.

What is ZnS?

Zinc sulfide is a chemical compound that appears as a white to off-white powder or crystal. It is widely recognized for its luminescent properties and is frequently utilized in technologies that require light emission or detection.

More questions
What is ZnS used for?
Zinc sulfide (ZnS) is used in phosphors for cathode ray tubes, infrared optical components, x-ray screens, pigments, and semiconductor devices.
What is the band gap of ZnS?
Zinc sulfide (ZnS) has a DFT-computed band gap of 0.11–2.09 eV across 344 reported structures.
Is ZnS a metal, semiconductor, or insulator?
With a band gap up to 2.09 eV it is a semiconductor.
Is ZnS thermodynamically stable?
Yes — Zinc sulfide (ZnS) sits on the convex hull (energy above hull 0 eV/atom), i.e. on hull (stable).
What is the crystal structure of ZnS?
The lowest-energy reported polymorph of Zinc sulfide (ZnS) is trigonal symmetry, space group P3m1 (No. 156).
What is the density of ZnS?
The computed density of the ground-state structure of Zinc sulfide (ZnS) is 4.14 g/cm³.
How many polymorphs of ZnS are known?
344 structures of ZnS are reported across 4 databases, spanning 21 distinct space groups.
How is ZnS synthesized?
Literature-reported routes for ZnS include sol-gel.
What elements does ZnS contain?
Zinc sulfide (ZnS) contains S and Zn (2 elements).
Where does the data for ZnS come from?
ZnS data is cross-referenced from materials_project.
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Related Compounds

Other II-VI Semiconductors in the database.

Data sources & attribution
  • materials_project — Data from the Materials Project. Cite: Jain et al., APL Materials 1, 011002 (2013).

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