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Correlation between product purity and process parameters for the synthesis of Cu2ZnSnS4 nanoparticles using microwave irradiation

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Abstract

Kesterites (CZT(S,Se)4) emerged as a favourable photovoltaic material, leading to solar cell efficiencies as high as 12.7%. The development of sustainable roll-to-roll printing processes that make use of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanoparticle inks requires the proper design of synthetic approaches and the understanding of the relation between process parameters and product purity. In the current paper, we developed this relationship by calculating a specific energy factor. A microwave-assisted synthetic method that operates at atmospheric pressure and makes use of eco-friendly solvents is established. Four solvents, i.e. ethylene glycol (EG), diethylene glycol (di-EG), triethylene glycol (tri-EG) and tetraethylene glycol (tet-EG) are compared and the temperature during the reaction is assessed by two different methods. In particular, two by-products have been identified, i.e. Cu2 − x S and a hexagonal phase. We show that the variation of reaction parameters such as power irradiation, type of solvent and precursor concentration influences the nanoparticles’ sizes (from 12 to 6 nm) and also the temperature-time profile of reaction which, in turn, can be related to phase purity of CZTS nanoparticles. The results suggest that the product purity scales with the specific energy factor providing a useful tool to a rational design of high-quality CZTS nanoparticles.

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Notes

  1. In multimode setup, the intensity of microwaves (and hence, the temperature) may vary from one point of the reactor to another, depending upon arbitrary interference of microwaves.

  2. In a mono-mode cavity, a more homogenous microwave field (and hence, temperature) is achieved (standing wave), leading to energy efficiency 10 times higher than that in a multi-mode cavity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through the Cluster of Excellence “Engineering of Advanced Material” initiative at the “Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg”. The authors also thank Dipl. – Ing. Andreas Güldenpfennig for the fruitful discussion and Dipl. Ing. Paula Hoppe for the assistance in ICP-OES analysis.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Particle Technology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 4, 91058, Erlangen, Germany

    R. Ahmad, K. S. Nicholson, Q. Nawaz, W. Peukert & M. Distaso

  2. Interdisciplinary Center for Functional Particle Systems, FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg, Haberstraße, 9a, 91058, Erlangen, Germany

    R. Ahmad, K. S. Nicholson, Q. Nawaz, W. Peukert & M. Distaso

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  1. R. Ahmad
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  2. K. S. Nicholson
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  4. W. Peukert
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  5. M. Distaso
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Distaso.

Additional file

Additional file 1

The Supporting Information file contains the following additional data: experimental details on the synthesis and temperature assessment; EDX analysis in graphical form; Scanning and Transmission Electron Microscopy analysis and an example of the calculation of the specific energy factor F (DOCX 6440 kb)

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Ahmad, R., Nicholson, K.S., Nawaz, Q. et al. Correlation between product purity and process parameters for the synthesis of Cu2ZnSnS4 nanoparticles using microwave irradiation. J Nanopart Res 19, 238 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-017-3932-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-017-3932-5

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