Roles of TOPO Coordinating Solvent on Prepared Nano-Flower/Star and Nano-Rods Nickel Sulphides for Solar Cells Applications
| dc.contributor.author | Agoro, Mojeed A. 0000-0002-0434-9635 | |
| dc.contributor.author | Meyer, Edson L. 0000-0002-9912-311X | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-01-22T11:32:16Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-01-22T11:32:16Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-09-28 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The present study describes a cheap, safe, and stable chemical process for the formationof nickel sulphide (NiS) with the use of mixed and single molecular precursors. The productionpathway is uncomplicated, energy-efficient, quick, and toxic-free, with large-scale commercialization potential. The obtained results show the effect of tri-N-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) as a coordinating solvent on the reaction chemistry, size distributions, morphology, and optical properties of both precursors. Ni[N,N-benz-N-p-anisldtc] as NiSa, Ni[N,N-benzldtc] as NiSb, and Ni[N-p-anisldtc] as NiSc thermally decompose in a single step at 333–334 ◦C. The X-ray diffraction peaks for NiSa, NiSb, and NiSc matched well with the cubic NiS nanoparticles and corresponded to planes of (111), (220), and (311). The extrapolated linear part from the Tauc plots reveals band gap values of 3.12 eV, 2.95 eV, and 2.5 eV, which confirms the three samples as potential materials for solar cell applications. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technique affirmed the quantum dot size distribution at 19.69–28.19 nm for NISa, 9.08–16.63 nm for NISb, and 9.37–10.49 nm for NISc, respectively. NiSa and NiSc show a clearly distinguishable flower/star like morphology, while NiSb displays a compact nano-rod shape. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, very few studies have been reported on the flower/star like and nano-rod shapes, but none with the dithiocarbamate molecular precursor for NiS nanoparticles. | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | The authors gratefully acknowledge the PV Spoke National Energy Research Programme of the Department of Science (GUN: 137944) and Innovation and National Research Foundation (GUN: 118947) and the Govan Mbeki Research and Development Centre (GMRDC), University of Fort Hare, South Africa, for their financial support. | |
| dc.identifier.citation | Agoro, M.A.; Meyer, E.L. Roles of TOPO Coordinating Solvent on Prepared Nano-Flower/Star and Nano-Rods Nickel Sulphides for Solar Cells Applications. Nanomaterials 2022, 12, 3409. https://doi.org/10.3390/ nano12193409 | |
| dc.identifier.issn | 2079-4991 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11837/3492 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | MDPI | |
| dc.subject | molecular precursor | |
| dc.subject | nickel sulphide | |
| dc.subject | quantum dots | |
| dc.subject | particles size | |
| dc.subject | morphology | |
| dc.title | Roles of TOPO Coordinating Solvent on Prepared Nano-Flower/Star and Nano-Rods Nickel Sulphides for Solar Cells Applications | |
| dc.type | Article |