Synthesis of CuInSe2 and CuGaSe2 hexagonal microplates in oleic acid and oleylamine mixture

The compounds of I-II-VI₂ family are the leading materials in the second-generation thin film solar cells. In this paper, we reported the synthesis of CuGaSe₂ and CuInSe₂ hexagonal microplates in the mixture of oleylamine and oleic acid. Regular copper, indium, and gallium salts as well as selenium powder were used as the precursors with stoichiometric ratio. X-ray diffraction patterns and selected area electron diffraction characterization confirmed their high crystalline quality. Furthermore, control experiments indicated two possible mechanisms of morphology transformation. The synthetic method is simple and reproducible and the as-prepared nanomaterials might find their application in solar cells. The article is published in the original.