Applications of zinc sulfide powder

Zinc sulfide is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula ZnS. It is the main form of zinc in nature, and zinc mainly exists in the form of the mineral sphalerite. Although the mineral is usually black due to various impurities, the pure material is white, so it is widely used as a pigment. Zinc sulfide can be transparent in a dense synthetic form and serves as a window for visible optics and infrared optics.

How is Zinc Sulfide ZnS powder produced?

Zinc sulfide is usually made from waste materials for other purposes. Typical sources include smelters, slag, and pickling liquor. It is also a by-product of ammonia synthesis from methane, where zinc oxide is used to remove hydrogen sulfide impurities in natural gas.

What is zinc sulfide used for? 

The most common use of ZnS is as a pigment for paints, plastics, and rubber. Lithopone, a mixture of ZnS and barium sulfate (BaSO4), is a widely used pigment for low-gloss paints. ZnS is phosphorescent, which makes it useful for several electronic and decorative applications.

High-purity crystal zinc sulfide powder is an important basic material widely used in high-tech fields such as civil, military, aerospace, and other high-tech fields. It is also an extremely important window material for medium-long-wave far-infrared precision guidance and far-infrared imaging, especially in national defense. Military and other cutting-edge technology fields. The applications of Zinc Sulfide are as following:

Luminescent material

Zinc sulfide, coupled with a small amount of suitable activator, has strong phosphorescence and is currently used in various applications from cathode ray tubes to X-ray screens to emit light in dark products. When silver is used as the activator, the resulting color is bright blue with a maximum of 450 nm. The use of manganese produces an orange-red color of about 590 nm. Copper can glow for a long time and has the familiar dark green glow effect. Copper-doped zinc sulfide ("ZnS + Cu") is also used in electroluminescent panels. It also exhibits phosphorescence due to impurities under blue or ultraviolet light irradiation.

Optical materials

Zinc sulfide is also used as an infrared optical material, transmitting from visible light wavelengths to just over 12 microns. It can be used as a flat surface as an optical window or shaped as a lens. It is made of hydrogen sulfide gas and zinc vapor to make microchips and sold as FLIR grade (front looking infrared), in which zinc sulfide is in creamy yellow, opaque form. When hot isostatic pressing (HIPed), the material can be converted into a transparent form of water, called Cleartran (trademark). Early commercial forms were sold as Iran-2, but this name is now obsolete.

Pigment

Zinc sulfide is a common pigment, sometimes called statolith. When combined with barium sulfate, zinc sulfide forms lithopone.

Catalyst

The fine ZnS powder is an effective photocatalyst, generating hydrogen from water when illuminated. Sulfur vacancies can be introduced into ZnS during the synthesis process. This gradually turns white to yellow ZnS into a brown powder and enhances photocatalytic activity through enhanced light absorption.