Solution Synthesis and Reactivity of Colloidal Fe₂GeS₄: A Potential Candidate for Earth Abundant, Nanostructured Photovoltaics

Abstract

Iron chalcogenides, in particular iron pyrite, have great potential to be useful materials for cost-effective thin film photovoltaics. However, the performance of pyrite as an absorber material in photovoltaic devices has fallen far short of the theoretical efficiency. A potential cause of this may be the instability of the pyrite phase. An alternate class of iron chalcogenides, Fe2MS4 (M = Ge, Si) has been proposed as a possible alternative to pyrite, yet has only been studied for interesting magnetic properties. Herein, we report the first solution synthesis of colloidal Fe2GeS4 and report the optical properties, reactivity, and potential for use as a photovoltaic material.