We report the colloidal synthesis of small-sized Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) nanocrystals (NCs) via a hot-injection method using zinc and tin acetates in combination with copper acetylacetonate as metal precursors. A systematic investigation of the influence of the injection temperature in the range from 190 C to 300 C on the size distribution, composition and phase purity of CZTS nanocrystals has been performed. It has been found that temperature plays the key role in changing of the metal sources reactivity and influences the final composition of the nanocrystals. The mechanism of nanocrystal formation has been investigated by Raman spectroscopy of aliquots of their solutions. It starts from the formation of a Cu 2Àx S phase as a core followed by the incorporation of Zn 2+ and Sn 4+ atoms into its structure regardless of injection temperature. † Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: TEM image for the sample obtained with lower amount of oleylamine; TEM images of Cu 2Àx S, CTS, ZnS and Sn x S y nanocrystals obtained with same reaction conditions as CZTS nanocrystals; temperature dependence of Cu/Sn and Zn/Sn ratios of NCs synthesized with weight-in ratio of Zn/Sn ¼ 1.2; evolution of Raman signal of CTS nanocrystals with increasing of the growth time at 225 C; Raman spectrum of nanocrystals synthesized at different injection temperatures measured with UV excitation laser; absorption coefficient of CZTS nanocrystals in conjunction with model. See
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