One-pot solvothermal synthesis of wurtzite Cu2ZnSnS4 nanocrystals

• P-type wurtzite Cu2ZnSnS4 was synthesized via a convenient one-pot route.
• W-CZTS could be directly used as photocatalyst without assistance of noble metal.
• The CZTS nanocrystals could degrade 84.7% of methylene blue within 90 min.

A facile and inexpensive method was developed to synthesize high-quality Cu2ZnSnS4 nanocrystals. The SEM characterization results indicated that the as-synthesized samples were wurtzite CZTS with a particle size of about 10–20 nm. The ethylenediamine content and the reaction time had a great influence on the phase composition of the products. The photocatalytic activities comparative experiment results revealed that the CZTS nanocrystals could degrade 84.7% of the methylene blue within 90 min, which was better than that of P25 (27.1%), ZnS (23.4%), and the blank sample (24.8%).

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