Aqueous Synthesis of Cu₂ZnSnSe₄ Nanocrystals

Abstract

Copper zinc tin selenide (CZTSe) nanocrystal inks show promise as a candidate for developing cheap, scalable, efficient, and nontoxic photovoltaic devices. They also present an important opportunity to controllably mix copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) with CZTSe to produce directly spectrally tunable Cu 2 ZnSn(S/Se) 4 (CZTSSe) solid-solutions using low-temperature processes. Herein, we describe a one-pot, low-temperature, aqueous-based synthesis that employs simultaneous redox and crystal formation reactions to yield CZTSe nanocrystal inks stabilized by Sn 2 Se 7 6− and thiourea. This versatile CZTSe synthesis is understood through the use of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and powder X-ray diffraction. It is further shown that stoichiometrically mixed CZTSe and CZTS nanocrystal powders yield a single CZTSSe phase at annealing temperatures between 200 and 250 °C. This facile and low-temperature process offers a low-energy alternative for the deposition of pure CZTSe/SSe thin films and enables the band gap to be readily tuned from 1.5 down to 1.0 eV by simple solution chemistry.

Effect of Different Selenium Precursors on Structural Characteristics and Chemical Composition of Cu2ZnSnSe4 Nanocrystals

“…In contrast to the rst approach and literature review, where selenourea is used as a source of selenium, i.e. (NH 2 ) 2 CSe compound [61][62][63], the use of elemental selenium allowed us to signi cantly reduce the cost of synthesis of the nal compound. After reaching a temperature of 120°C, the air was pumped out of the ask and inert argon gas was charged.…”

Multinary copper-based chalcogenide nanocrystal systems from the perspective of device applications

“…60 Recently, greener strategies like aqueous phase synthesis of size-controlled CZTS nanocrystals and CZTSSe have been reported. 61,62 Recently, we have reported the synthesis of phase-pure wurtzite Cu 2 ZnAS 4Àx and CuZn 2 AS 4 nanorods and nanoworms (A: Al, Ga, In; 0.1 # x # 0.5). 63 A one-step hot-injection method using metal-acetylacetonate precursors, a combination of DDT and tert-DDT as anionic precursors, and oleylamine as the ligand and solvent has been applied to form these wurtzite nanocrystals.…”

Green Synthesis of Luminescent Gold-Zinc Oxide Nanocomposites: Cell Imaging and Visible Light–Induced Dye Degradation

“…Considering the growing demand for Au-metal oxide-based nanocomposites for industrial and biomedical applications (Chen D. et al, 2015;Chen et al, 2017;Liu et al, 2018;Zhou et al, 2018;Gao et al, 2019;Jia et al, 2019;Zhang M. et al, 2019), there is a critical need to design a more facile and well-regulated synthetic route. Synthesis of metal-based nanocomposites by organic solvent-free conditions has drawn a lot of attention in the current decade (Li et al, 2013;Yao et al, 2013;Zhang et al, 2016;Qi et al, 2019;Ritchie et al, 2019). Au-ZnO nanocomposites, which are well known for a variety of applications, have been synthesized at high temperature in the presence of organic solvent (Yao et al, 2011;Tahir et al, 2013;Hang et al, 2016;Chang et al, 2017;Lupan et al, 2019).…”