Facile solvothermal way to synthesize CuIn0.7Ga0.3S2 nanocrystals and their application in low-cost photovoltaic device

•Metastable zincblende CuIn0.7Ga0.3S2 were prepared by a facile solvothermal method.•The CuIn0.7Ga0.3S2 was directly applied as absorber layer in CIGS solar cells.•The Zincblende CuIn0.7Ga0.3S2 can be potentially used in thin film solar cells.

Facile solvothermal way to synthesize quaternary CuIn0.7Ga0.3S2 (CIGS) semiconductor nanocrystals has been reported here. X-ray powder diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, transmission electron microscopy, X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy and UV–Vis spectrometry were used to characterize CIGS nanocrystals. As-synthesized CIGS nanocrystals ink was used to prepare absorber layer. After selenization and device fabrication, the CIGS solar cells exhibited 0.36% power conversion efficiency under 1.5 AM illumination.