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Surface engineering of colloidal quaternary chalcogenide Cu2ZnSnS4 nanocrystals: a potential low-cost photocatalyst for water remediation

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Abstract

Colloidal route synthesis of quaternary compound CZTS (Cu2ZnSnS4) 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.

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Acknowledgements

The author (PS) sincerely acknowledges the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and AcSIR for providing the necessary facilities to carry out the experimental work, and also thanks CSIR for providing Research Fellowship (#31/001(0521)/2018-EMR-I)

Funding

Funding was provided by the CSIR-Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (#31/001(0521)/2018-EMR-I).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, Dr. K.S. Krishnan Marg, New Delhi, 110012, India

    Pooja Semalti, Vikash Sharma, Meenakshi Devi, Pathi Prathap, Naval Kishor Upadhyay & Shailesh Narain Sharma

  2. Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR), Ghaziabad, 201002, India

    Pooja Semalti, Meenakshi Devi & Shailesh Narain Sharma

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  1. Pooja Semalti
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  2. Vikash Sharma
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  3. Meenakshi Devi
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  4. Pathi Prathap
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  5. Naval Kishor Upadhyay
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  6. Shailesh Narain Sharma
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Contributions

Pooja Semalti: conceptualization, original draft, methodology, investigation, data curation.

Meenakshi Devi, P. Prathap, Naval Kishor Upadhyay, Vikash Sharma: resources and software.

Shailesh Narain Sharma: supervision; validation; visualization; review; and editing.

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Correspondence to Shailesh Narain Sharma.

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This study was approved by the Doctoral Advisory Committee of CSIR-National Physical Laboratory, Delhi, India.

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Synopsis: Production in each stage produces hazardous biproducts which mainly cause pollution, affecting human health. Present work highlights the degradation of hazardous water pollutants containing chemical dyes and toxic pollutants, using ligand-assisted non-toxic and cost-effective Cu2ZnSnS4 nanoparticles.

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Semalti, P., Sharma, V., Devi, M. et al. Surface engineering of colloidal quaternary chalcogenide Cu2ZnSnS4 nanocrystals: a potential low-cost photocatalyst for water remediation. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 79774–79788 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26603-3

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