Synthesis and characterization of CZTSe nanoinks using polyetheramine as solvent

This study developed a novel one-step method for the synthesis of well-dispersed CZTSe nanoparticles from Cu, Zn, Sn, Se elemental powders using a solvent-thermal reflux technique. Polyetheramine was used as a solvent and chelating agent, which provided two NH₂ bonding sites at the ends as well as long, continuous epoxy chains in the center, making it ideally suited to the formation of CZTSe for use in ink printing. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and optical Raman spectroscopy were used to identify structural and phase information; transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to confirm the morphology of the film as well as the shape and composition of the particles, and UV-Vis was used to characterize the band gap. We also investigated the composition and morphology of the CZTSe nanoparticles depending on different solvents polyetheramine and isophorondiamine. The polyetheramine-based process produced particles with far more Cu-poor and Zn-rich composition CZTSe phases, a smoother and closed packed morphology, and a more spherical crystal shape. In contrast, the isophorondiamine-based process produced nanoparticles with an irregular sheet-like shape. These results demonstrate that the solvent-thermal reflux method depends mainly on the structure of the chelating agent. The proposed technique is a low-cost and environmentally friendly solutionsynthesis method applicable to the large-scale production of CZTSe for photovoltaic devices.