The green hydrothermal synthesis of nanostructured Cu2ZnSnSe4 as solar cell material and study of their structural, optical and morphological properties

Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) has attracted intensive attention as an absorber material for the thin-film solar cells due to its high absorption coefficient, direct band gap, low toxicity, and abundance of its constituent elements. In this study nanostructured CZTSe nanoparticles are prepared via green hydrothermal synthesis without using toxic solvents, organic amines, catalysts or noxious chemicals. The structural, optical, and morphological properties of CZTSe nanostructured powder were studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques. Raman peaks at 170, 195, and 232 cm−1 confirm the formation of pure phase CZTSe nanostructured particles. In addition, the EDS and XPS results confirm the appropriate chemical purity of the annealed CZTSe nanoparticles. Meanwhile, the TEM analysis showed the presence of phase pure oval like CZTSe particle with size of about 80–140 nm. The UV–Vis-NIR absorption spectra analysis showed that the optical band gap of CZTSe nanostructured particles is about 1.14 eV. This band gap energy is close to the optimum value of a photovoltaic solar cell absorber material.