Influence of co-ordinating and non-coordinating solvents in structural and morphological properties of Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanoparticles

Copper zinc tin sulphide Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanoparticles were synthesized using different solvents including 1-octadecene (1-ODE), oleylamine (OLAM), oleic acid (OLA) and 1-dodecanethiol (1-DDT). Pure oleylamine based synthesis of nanoparticles results formation of nearly spherical like particles, while the pure oleic acid and mixture of oleylamine and oleic acid lead to the formation of hierarchical microspheres and nanodisc like structures. In addition to different morphologies, 1-dodecanethiol (1-DDT) based synthesis of Cu2ZnSnS4 nanoparticles posses wurtzite structure while rest of them exhibit pure kesterite phase. Further, the low volume of oleylamine in the reaction system motivates formation of sheet like structure. The mechanism involved in this structural direction of the nanoparticles into various morphologies was discussed. The synthesized CZTS nanoparticles were characterized using XRD, SEM, TEM and ATR-FTIR.