Studies of pressure induced phase transformations of ZnS nanoparticles using diamond anvil cells and synchrotron radiation were carried out to 20.0 GPa. Nanoparticles initially in the zinc-blende and wurtzite phases both transformed to the NaCl phase under the application of pressure. The zinc-blende particles, which were of 2.8 nm size, and the wurtzite particles, which were of 25.3 nm size, t...

An approach has been developed to produce CdTe films with a high proportion of the metastable wurtzite phase. It involves the use of pulsed laser deposition to produce CdTe nanoparticles which are then collected on a substrate. Electron microscopy indicates that the nanoparticles produced have a relatively minor fraction of the wurtzite phase coexisting with the stable zinc blende phase. If the...

Cations and anions are replaced with Fe, Mn, and Se in CZTS in order to control the formations of the secondary phase, the band gap, and the micro structure of Cu2ZnSnS4. We demonstrate a simplified synthesis strategy for a range of quaternary chalcogenide nanoparticles such as Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS), Cu2FeSnS4 (CFTS), Cu2MnSnS4 (CMTS), Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe), and Cu2ZnSn(S0.5Se0.5)4 (CZTSSe) by thermoly...

The semiconductor CdS is generally found in the wurtzite structure. Prior experimental and theoretical results confirm that the semiconductor CdS nanoparticles maintain a wurtzite structure for diameters greater than 6 nm. There is disagreement in the literature for sizes smaller than 6 nm. We use the density-functional theory FIREBALL code and perform finite-temperature molecular dynamics simu...

This paper describes the equilibrium morphologies of zinc sulfide nanoparticles in the wurtzite phase as a function of size, determined using ab initio Density Functional Theory (DFT) simulations and a shape-dependent thermodynamic model predicting the Gibbs free energy of a nanoparticle. We investigate the relative stabilities of a variety of nanoparticle shapes based on the wurtzite structure...

Copper zinc tin sulphide (CZTS) has emerged as a highly promising, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly material for solar energy conversion via photovoltaic photocatalysis. This paper presents the synthesis of quasi Cu2ZnSnS4 nanoparticles using hydrothermal route with citric acid structure-directing agent. The CZTS nanoparticles' morphological, structural, optical properties were comp...

Recently, ZnS quantum dots have attracted a lot of attention since they can be a suitable alternative for cadmium-based quantum dots, which are known to be highly carcinogenic for living systems. However, the structural stability of nanocrystalline ZnS seems to be a challenging issue since ZnS nanoparticles have the potential to undergo uncontrolled structural change at room temperature. Using ...

Ren, Y. 2017. Annealing of Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 Thin Films. A Study of Secondary Compounds and Their Effects on Solar Cells. Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology 1476. 85 pp. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. ISBN 978-91-554-9817-7. Kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is interesting as a sustainable photovoltaic technology due to its earth-...

Monodisperse Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) nanocrystals with tunable shape, crystalline phase, and composition are synthesized by efficient thermolysis of a single source precursor of mixed metal-oleate complexes in hot organic solvents with dissolved sulfur sources. Suitable tuning of the synthetic conditions and the Cu/(Zn + Sn) ratio of the precursor has enabled precise control of the crystalline phase i...

A Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) film with a thickness of approximately 1.5 μm was fabricated on a Mo-coated glass substrate by annealing a CZTS precursor fabricated from nanoparticle ink. The chemical states of the elements in the CZTS thin film in the depth direction were studied to identify the presence of secondary phases, which are detrimental to the performance of solar cells containing CZTS. X-ray dif...