PRF No. 65369Disclosure Date: 6/19/2009

1281 Win Hentshel Blvd.West Lafayette, IN 47906

(765) 588-3470 Phone(765) 463-3501 Fax

Jon GortatOffice of Technology Commercializationjdgortat@prf.org(765)588-3485 www.prf.org/otc

Sn can be greater than or equal to or less than 1 and 0 ≤ y ≤ 1. This meth-od would allow for improved thin films for photovoltaic applications because of tin and zinc’s natural abundance in the earth’s crust and the relatively low toxicity.

Domain:Materials Engineering

Advantages:• Cost-effective• Comparable Efficiency• High abundance and low toxicity

of inputs

Among the various semiconduc-tor nanomaterials investigated for photovoltaic applications, the most promising candidate for low cost solar cells is the I-III-VI2 family of chalcopyrite nanocrystals. However, due to the limited supply and ever in-creasing price of rare metals, such as indium and gallium, there is a need to find alternative materials with high abundance and low cost.

Researchers at Purdue University have discovered an innovative meth-od that is related to the synthesis of multinary chalcoenide nanopar-ticles comprising of Cu, Zn, Sn, S, and Se. The main compound created is Cu2ZnSn(SySe1-y)4, whereby Cu/(Zn+Sn) can be substantially less than 1 but greater than 0.5 and Zn/

Synthesis of Multinary Chalcogenid Nanopar-ticles Comprising of Cu, Zn, Sn, S, and Se

Dr. Rakesh Agrawal is the Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University. Dr. Agrawal earned a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology at Kanpur, M.ChE. in Chemical Engineering from University of Delaware, and a Sc.D. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research inter-ests include energy transformation and use issues for solar, coal, biomass, and hydrogen economy and novel separation processes using distillation, membranes, and adsorption.