Towards cost effective metal precursor sources for future photovoltaic material synthesis: CTS nanoparticles

• Chemical synthesis of Cu3SnS4 (CTS) nanoparticles.
• Role of metal precursor sources.
• Structural, microstructural and optical studies of CTS nanoparticles.
• The plausible mechanism of the formation of CTS nanoparticles.
• CTS nanoparticles for solar cell application.

Copper tin sulfide (CTS) is an emerging candidate for solar application due to its favorable band gap and higher optical absorption coefficient. Kuramite-Tetragonal Cu3SnS4 (CTS) monodisperse nanoparticles are prepared by hot injection technique involving cost effective sulfate metal precursor source. A protocol for controlled crystal structure has been demonstrated by variation of cationic Cu:Sn ratio. The crystal structure, size, phase purity, atomic composition, oxidation state and optical properties of the nanoparticles are confirmed from X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV–visible spectroscopy, respectively. Hexagonal shaped particles within the size distribution of 7–9 nm with an optimal band gap of 1.28 eV are obtained. XPS study shows the Cu1+, Sn4+ and S2− oxidation states. The effects of influential factors such as metal precursor ratio, metal precursor source, reaction time, heating rate and solvents have been demonstrated systematically on the synthesis of CTS nanoparticles. The plausible mechanism of the formation of CTS nanoparticles has been proposed. The obtained results provide new insight for applying CTS nanoparticles in photovoltaic applications.

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