Surface engineering of colloidal quaternary chalcogenide Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 nanocrystals: a potential low-cost photocatalyst for water remediation

Colloidal route synthesis of quaternary compound CZTS (Cu ZnSnS ) has been anticipated with an inimitable combination of coordinating ligands and solvents using the hot injection technique. CZTS is recognized as one of the worthiest materials for photo-voltaic/catalytic applications due to its exclu...

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Published inEnvironmental science and pollution research international Vol. 30; no. 33; p. 79774
Main Authors Semalti, Pooja, Sharma, Vikash, Devi, Meenakshi, Prathap, Pathi, Upadhyay, Naval Kishor, Sharma, Shailesh Narain
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Germany 01.07.2023
Subjects
Butylamines
Environmental Pollutants
Ligands
Nanoparticles
Solvents
Water
Contaminants
Photocatalysis
CZTS
Ligands
Hot injection
Electrochemical
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Summary:Colloidal route synthesis of quaternary compound CZTS (Cu ZnSnS ) has been anticipated with an inimitable combination of coordinating ligands and solvents using the hot injection technique. CZTS is recognized as one of the worthiest materials for photo-voltaic/catalytic applications due to its exclusive properties (viz., non-toxic, economical, direct bandgap, high absorbance coefficient, etc.). This paper demonstrates the formation of crystalline, single-phased, monodispersed, and electrically passivated CZTS nanoparticles using a distinctive combination of ligands viz. oleic acid (OA)-trioctylphosphine (TOP) and butylamine (BA)-trioctylphosphine (TOP). Detailed optical, structural, and electrochemical studies were done for all CZTS nanoparticles, and the most efficient composition was found using ligands butylamine and TOP. CZTS nanocrystals were rendered hydrophilic via surface-ligand engineering, which was used for photocatalysis studies of organic pollutants. Malachite green (MG) and rhodamine 6G (Rh) for water remediation have great commercial prospects. The unique selling proposition of this work is the rapid synthesis time (~ 45 min) of colloidal CZTS nanocrystals, cost-effective ligand-exchange process, and negligible material wastage (~ 200 µl per 10 ml of pollutant) during photocatalytic experiments.
ISSN:1614-7499