Zinc sulfide

Description

An off-white powder that occurs in nature as the minerals wurtzite and sphalerite. Zinc sulfide slowly oxidizes in moist air to form zinc sulfate. The synthetic form was introduced as a pigment in 1852 but not widely used by itself due to gray tonalities from impurities. To add opacity and increase whiteness, zinc sulfide is mixed with barium sulfate; the mixture is called lithopone and is a common white pigment used in paints and plastics. Zinc sulfide has also been used in semi-conductors, and as optical windows, x-ray screens, and radium-painted luminescent watch dials.

Synonyms and Related Terms

zinc sulphide (Br.); zinc blende; CI 77975; Pigment White 7; Sachtolith; Wurtzite; Sphalerite

Risks

• Sensitive to moisture and air.
• Contact causes irritation.
• Fisher Scientific: MSDS

Physical and Chemical Properties

• Soluble in mineral acids. Insoluble in water.
• Transparent, colorless crystals with high relief.
• In crossed polars the crystals are isotropic with very weak birefringence.
• Fluoresces a weak yellow that can be enhanced with metallic activators (blue with silver; green with copper; orange-red with manganese)
• Composition = ZnS (mol. wt. = 97.45 g/mol)
• CAS = 1314-98-3
• Density = 3.98 g/ml
• Refractive Index = 2.37

Resources and Citations

• Nicholas Eastaugh, Valentine Walsh, Tracey Chaplin, Ruth Siddall, Pigment Compendium, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 2004
• The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry 10294
• Wikipedia: Zinc sulfide Accessed Feb 2026
• CHSOS: Spectra (Reflectance, XRF, Raman, FTIR) for Zinc sulfide