Nanocrystalline Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 (CZTS) powder was synthesized by a hydrothermal process, using thiourea as sulfur precursor. The powder was qualitatively analyzed using X-ray to identify the phase, and the size of the particles was determined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Raman peak at 337.5 cm −1 confirms the formation of pure CZTS particles. The powder was also synthesized solvothermally using ethylenediamine as solvent. The hydrothermally synthesized powder indicated the presence of the kesterite phase Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 and particle size of about 4-5 nm. This environmentally green synthesis by hydrothermal route can produce gram scale synthesis of material with a chemical yield in excess of ∼ 90%. UV Vis absorption spectra measurements indicated the band gap of as-synthesized CZTS nanoparticles to be 1.7 eV, which is near the optimum value for photovoltaic solar cell, showing its possible use in photovoltaics.

Gadolinium aluminum perovskite (GdAlO 3 , GAP) is a promising high temperature ceramic material, known for its wide applications in phosphors. Polycrystalline gadolinium aluminum perovskites were synthesized using a precursor of co-precipitate gel of GdAlO 3 by employing hydrothermal supercritical fluid technique under pressure and temperature ranging from 150 to 200 MPa and 600 to 700°C, respectively. The resulted products of GAP were studied using the characterization techniques, such as powder X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDX). The X-ray diffraction pattern matched well with the reported orthorhombic GAP pattern (JCPDS-46-0395).