Research Article Synthesis of a Novel Single-Source Precursor for the Production of Lead Chalcogenide Thin Films Nathaniel Owusu Boadi , 1 Selina Ama Saah, 2 and Johannes A. M. Awudza 1 1 Department of Chemistry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana 2 Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, Ghana Correspondence should be addressed to Nathaniel Owusu Boadi; noboadi@gmail.com Received 21 April 2020; Revised 6 July 2020; Accepted 8 July 2020; Published 24 July 2020 Guest Editor: Tapan Sarkar Copyright©2020NathanielOwusuBoadietal.isisanopenaccessarticledistributedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. A novel complex [Pb((SeP i Pr 2 ) 2 N) (S 2 CNEt 2 )] has been synthesized and characterized by microelemental analysis, melting point NMR, and FT-IR spectroscopies. Its crystal structure has also been successfully determined using single-crystal X-ray crys- tallography. e structure indicates a distorted square pyramidal geometry with the four basal atoms being noncoplanar. e complex was used as a single-source precursor for the deposition of lead chalcogenide thin films on glass substrates at 300, 350, 400, and 450 ° C by AACVD. e films were characterized by SEM, EDX, and XRD. e XRD peaks matched with cubic PbSe at all temperatures. e SEM micrographs showed the formation of cubes with the lower temperatures (300–350 ° C) showing well- resolved cubes while with the higher temperatures (400–450 ° C) showing poorly resolved cubes. e EDX analyses confirmed the formation of PbSe thin films at all the deposition temperatures. 1.Introduction Flexible lightweight solar cells that are currently being de- veloped have many uses, which makes them very important. in-film solar cells have 30 to 100 times less semi- conducting materials and are inexpensive to manufacture than the existing silicon-based cells [1]. e chemical vapour deposition of inorganic/organo- metallic complexes as dual or multiple source precursors is preferred because of its less vigorous processing parameters. e control of the stoichiometry of the thin films deposited is, however, a challenge that sometimes results in film contamination [2, 3]. Single-source precursors are an ideal alternative that addresses this challenge. ey have a “built- in” I-III-VI stoichiometry and are well suited for deposition at low temperatures [3, 4]. e single-source routes use a metal-organic/organo- metallic complex as the precursor for the growth of the target compound at the preferred stoichiometry [5]. ere are many advantages with the use of single-source precur- sors over other sources [6–8]. ese include preformed bonds that exist within the molecule, which will reduce defects in the material produced. Also, single-source precursors are mostly stable to air with low toxicity and are easy to handle. eir decompo- sition pathways are often at low temperatures and cleaner, leading to the production of crystalline nanomaterials with very low impurities [9]. Lead sulfide (PbS) is a IV–VI semiconductor that has technological applications such as infrared detectors [10] and absorbers in thin-film solar cells [11, 12]. Lead sulfide semiconductorhasanarrowgap[8,13,14],whichmakesit different from other semiconductors. e bandgap of PbS is affected by temperature and particle size [12, 15]. e high sensitivity of the properties of PbS to particle size makes it well suited for nanostructured devices [12]. e multiple exciton generation effects of PbS and PbSe semiconductors [8, 16] make them preferable as solar cell materials [12]. PbS has also been used in sensors, photography, de- tectors, and optical switches in addition to solar cells [17, 18]. e bandgap of PbS can be tuned easily and thus Hindawi Journal of Chemistry Volume 2020, Article ID 8349549, 7 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8349549