Recent Developments in Colloidal Synthesis of CuInSe2 Nanoparticles

Ternary semiconductor nanocrystals, such as CuInSe₂, are of high interest for photovoltaic application due to their relatively low toxicity and unique properties. During the last decades great success has been achieved in the colloidal synthesis of binary nanoparticles, but for ternary compounds this research is still in an early stage of development. These materials are a challenge for synthetic chemistry, because the interaction between the three components (copper, indium, and selenium) plays a major role for the production of high quality material. The purpose of this Minireview is to provide a summary of the achievements in colloidal synthesis of CuInSe₂ nanoparticles—in particular, details of reaction mechanism and its characterization possibilities, which might be useful also for the colloidal synthesis of other multicomponent systems.