Filled tetrahedral I-II-V semiconductors (Nowotny-Juza phases) are attractive materials due to their potential applications in Li-ion batteries, thermoelectrics, and photovoltaics. We report a solution phase synthesis using both heterogeneous and homogeneous reagents that has been shown to be highly efficient for production of LiZnP and can be extended to other compounds in this family. LiZnP samples prepared by this method are found to be nanocrystalline with particle sizes of less than 20 nm (exact size dependent upon precursors) and phase-pure based on powder X-ray diffraction. The multiple Nowotny-Juza nanocrystalline phases have been characterized by a combination of powder X-ray diffraction, optical absorption, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and nuclear magnetic resonance to confirm their successful synthesis as well as probe their mechanism of formation.

Filled tetrahedral semiconductors in the nano-regime: Synthesis and characterization of I-II-V Nowotny-Juza phases

251st National Meeting (2016)

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