Facile hydrothermal synthesis, formation mechanism and solar cell application of CuInS2 nanoparticles using novel starting reagents

•CIS nanoparticles were synthesized using new starting reagents through hydrothermal route.•Pomegranate marc peels (PMP) was used to prepare of copper precursor and dye solar cells.•The XRD results indicated that presence of HCl is crucial to synthesis of pure CuInS2 (CIS).•FTO/TiO2/CIS/PMP dyes/Pt-FTO solar cell was prepared for the first time.

CuInS2 (CIS) nanoparticles were synthesized through a simple hydrothermal method using pomegranate marc peel (PMP) dyes-Cu(II) as a new copper precursor and sodium sulfite (Na2SO3) as a reducing agent. The PMP has several dyes such as proanthocyanidins and flavonoids which can be easily extracted by transition metal ions in which we have focused on this work to prepare of copper precursor and dye solar cells. Besides, the effect of HCl on the morphology and particle size of the product was investigated. Furthermore, to investigate the effect of different dyes and CIS nanoparticles on solar cell efficiencies several experiments were conducted.