Zubair et al – Precursor-Mediated Colloidal Synthesis of Compositionally Tunable Cu–Sb–M–S (M = Zn, Co, and Ni) Nanocrystals and Their Transport Properties – Chem. Mater., 2022, 34, 23, 10528–10537

Maria Zubair¹, Vasily A. Lebedev¹, Mohini Mishra¹, Temilade Esther Adegoke¹, Ibrahim Saana Amiinu¹, Yu Zhang², Andreu Cabot², Shalini Singh¹, and Kevin M. Ryan*<sup>,1

1</sup>Department of Chemical Sciences and Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, V94 T9PX Limerick, Ireland
²Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), 08930 Barcelona, Spain
³Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain
Corresponding Author: K. M. Ryan (kevin.m.ryan@ul.ie)

Received: August 24, 2022 Revised: November 8, 2022 Published: November 21, 2022
Link to Paper: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.chemmater.2c02605

Abstract

The solution-based colloidal synthesis of multinary semiconductor compositions has allowed the design of new inorganic materials impacting a large variety of applications. Yet there are certain compositions that have remained elusive─particularly quaternary structures of transition metal-based (e.g., Co, Zn, Ni, Fe, Mn, and Cr) copper antimony chalcogenides. These are widely sought for tuning the electrical and thermal conductivity as a function of the size, composition, and crystal phase. In this work, a facile hot injection approach for the synthesis of three different tetrahedrite-substituted nanocrystals (NCs) (Cu₁₀Zn₂Sb₄S₁₃, Cu₁₀Co₂Sb₄S₁₃, and Cu₁₀Ni_1.5Sb₄S₁₃) and their growth mechanisms are investigated. We reveal that the interplay between the Zn, Ni, and Co precursors on the basis of thiophilicity is key to obtaining pure phase NCs with controlled size and shape. While all of the synthesized crystal phases display outstanding low thermal conductivity, the Cu_10.5Sb₄Ni_1.5S₁₃ system shows the most enhanced electrical conductivity compared to Cu₁₀Zn₂Sb₄S₁₃ and Cu₁₀Co₂Sb₄S₁₃. This study highlights an effective synthesis strategy for the growth of complex quaternary nanocrystals and their high potential for application in thermoelectrics.