Green and scalable synthesis of nanocrystalline kuramite

• Andrea Giaccherini,
• Giuseppe Cucinotta,
• Stefano Martinuzzi,
• Enrico Berretti,
• Werner Oberhauser,
• Alessandro Lavacchi,
• Giovanni Orazio Lepore,
• Giordano Montegrossi,
• Maurizio Romanelli,
• Antonio De Luca,
• Massimo Innocenti,
• Vanni Moggi Cecchi,
• Matteo Mannini,
• Antonella Buccianti and
• Francesco Di Benedetto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2073–2083, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.202

• of nanocrystalline kuramite by means of a simpler, greener and scalable solvothermal synthesis. We exploited a multianalytical characterization approach (X-ray diffraction, extended X-ray absorption fine structure, field emission scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and electronic

• microprobe analysis (EMPA)) to discriminate kuramite from other closely related polymorphs. Moreover, we confirmed the presence of structural defects due to a relevant antisite population. Keywords: Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS); Cu3SnS4 (CTS); green chemistry; kuramite; photovoltaic materials; solvothermal synthesis

• environmentally serious [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. Thin films of kesterite and kuramite (tetragonal Cu2ZnSnS4 and Cu3SnS4, respectively) are among the most sustainable third generation solar cell technology materials [9][10][11]. Their best conversion efficiencies span from 12.6% (using Cu2ZnSnS4−xSex obtained