Preparation and characterization of Cu2ZnSnS4 microparticles via a facile solution route

Abstract

With a novel solvent triethylenetetramine, Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) microparticles were successfully synthesized by a facile solution–chemical method under the open-air condition. Phase constituents, morphology, structure, and optical properties of the as-prepared CZTS microparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra, scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectrophotometry. The results showed that the synthesized CZTS microparticles had single phase, good crystallinity and stoichiometric composition. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed that the CZTS microparticles had a kesterite structure. Moreover, the prepared products showed the morphology of microparticles with size ranging from 250–500nm, and their energy band gaps were 1.5eV which made them promising candidates as absorber materials for photovoltaic applications.