SYNTHESIS AND STUDY OF POLAR CU2ZNSNS4 NANOCRYSTAL INKS FOR ENERGY APPLICATIONS

Abstract

The main objective of this work is to design novel CZTS NC inks that do not form an unwanted fine-grain layer after annealing. Unlike previous works, which synthesized CZTS NCs in non-polar solvents, this work is a pioneering attempt to synthesis CZTS NCs using polar solvent (formamide). To do so, the effect of solvents, precursors, temperature, and reaction conditions on the properties of CZTS NCs are investigated. The deep insights achieved are used to synthesize high quality CZTS NC inks with high phase purity, desired chemical composition, stability, and suitable surface properties, even when synthesized on a large-scale. The novel CZTS inks are compared with conventional oleylamine-capped CZTS inks before and after annealing to investigate the effect of ligand selection on the transformation and properties of the annealed film. Finally, the annealed CZTS films prepared from the novel inks are investigated in applications including solar cells and energy storage.