Int. J. Nanotechnol., Vol. 10, Nos. 8/9, 2013 671 Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Hierarchical Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 nanostructures synthesised by a simple solvothermal reaction S.H. Park, T.H. Kwon, K. Kim, A. Annamalai and M.-J. Lee* Department of Advanced Technology Fusion, Konkuk University, 1 Hwayang-dong, Gwangjin-ku, Seoul 143-701, Korea Fax: +82-2-452-3410 E-mail: presenthappy@naver.com E-mail: graypark21@gmail.com E-mail: rusoa2@gmail.com E-mail: analagappan@gmail.com E-mail: leemtx@konkuk.ac.kr *Corresponding author Abstract: Hierarchical Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 nanostructures with various morphologies and sizes have been synthesised successfully using a simple solvothermal reaction. For the control of the size and morphology of Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 , polyvinylpyrrolidone was used as a structure-directing ligand. By changing the molecular weights and concentrations of the polyvinylpyrrolidone ligands, we prepared unique Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 nanostructures ranging from discrete nanoparticle aggregates to nanoflower-like particles. Owing to the unique control of the nanostructures and their ecofriendly nature, the nanoflower-like Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 materials are promising as excellent absorber materials for low-cost solar cells. Keywords: Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 ; nanoflower; nanoaggregates; solvothermal; hierarchical nanostructure; polyvinylpyrrolidone. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Park, S.H., Kwon, T.H., Kim, K., Annamalai, A. and Lee, M.-J. (2013) ‘Hierarchical Cu 2 ZnSnS 4 nanostructures synthesised by a simple solvothermal reaction’, Int. J. Nanotechnol., Vol. 10, Nos. 8/9, pp.671–680. Biographical notes: S.H. Park received a BS degree from the Department of Materials Chemistry, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea, in 2011. He is currently following the master’s course (second semester) in the Department of Advanced Technology Fusion at the same university. His research interests include photovoltaic materials, secondary batteries, and three-dimensional structure synthesis. T.H. Kwon received a BS degree from the Department of Materials Chemistry, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea, in 2011. He is currently an MS candidate in the Department of Advanced Technology Fusion at the same university. His research interests include photovoltaic materials, secondary batteries, and low-dimensional structure synthesis.