Growing process of CdS nanoclusters in zeolite Y studied by positron annihilation

Zeolite Y has been used as the host to generate CdS nanoclusters. The location of CdS nanoclusters inside zeolite hosts was confirmed by the blue-shifted reflection absorption spectra with respect to that of bulk CdS materials. But which kind of cage inside zeolite Y, sodalite cage or supercage, was preferred for the CdS clusters remained unclear. In this paper, we conducted positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) measurements for the first time on a series of CdS/Y zeolite samples and concluded that CdS clusters were not located in supercages but in smaller sodalite cages. The stability of CdS clusters inside the sodalite units was due to the coordination of Cd atoms with the framework oxygen atoms of the double six-ring windows. Moreover, PAS revealed some important information of surface states existing on the interfacial layers between CdS clusters and zeolite Y. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B,V, All rights reserved.