---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
PlanS_conform: '1'
_id: '22967'
abstract:
- lang: eng
text: Alkali salts are widely used in solution processing, yet the corresponding
cations are often assumed to remain in the liquid phase. Here, we show that alkali
ions introduced during the solution synthesis of SnSe are retained through particle
isolation and continue to influence the material during subsequent thermal processing,
where they shape the evolution of the final polycrystalline material. Different
SnSe powders were prepared using Li+, Na+, and K+ precursors, as well as tetramethylammonium
(TMA+) precursors as a nonalkali reference for comparison, and all samples were
consolidated under identical conditions. Although all three alkali ions were found
in the matrix, at grain boundaries, and in segregated nanoscale regions, they
partitioned differently and resulted in distinct grain sizes, defect distributions,
and therefore transport properties. Li induced the strongest grain size heterogeneity
and the lowest energy barriers, Na the best overall balance between carrier concentration
and mobility, and K the broadest alkali-rich grain boundary regions along with
the strongest interfacial penalty to charge carrier transport. These results show
that residual alkali ions are not just remnants of solution synthesis but active
determinants of microstructure and thermoelectric performance in SnSe.
acknowledged_ssus:
- _id: EM-Fac
- _id: NanoFab
acknowledgement: "ISTA and the Werner Siemens Foundation financially supported this
work. The Scientific Service Units (SSU) of ISTA supported this research through
resources provided by the Electron Microscopy Facility (EMF), Juan Aguilera Servin
from the Nanofabrication facility (NNF). Special acknowledgments to the Ibá\r\nez
group for their fruitful discussions and insights. K.M. acknowledges the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie
grant agreement No. 101034413 and PETRAIII at DESY for the synchrotron X-ray measurements
under proposal No. I-20241048 EC. JL is a Serra Húnter Fellow and is grateful to
the Academia Excellence program (Generalitat de Catalunya), project PID2024-156765OB-C21
funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the European Regional Development
Fund (FEDER), and María de Maeztu Units of Excellence Programme CEX2023-001300
M, funded by MCIN/AEI 10.13039/501100011033. VG and SD acknowledge the use of resources
of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science
User Facility supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy
under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. Y.L. acknowledges funding from the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie
grant agreement No. 754411, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
(Grants No. 22209034)."
article_processing_charge: Yes (via OA deal)
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Christine
full_name: Fiedler, Christine
id: bd3fceba-dc74-11ea-a0a7-c17f71817366
last_name: Fiedler
- first_name: Sharona
full_name: Horta, Sharona
id: 03a7e858-01b1-11ec-8b71-99ae6c4a05bc
last_name: Horta
- first_name: Navita
full_name: Navita, Navita
id: 6ebe278d-ba0b-11ee-8184-f34cdc671de4
last_name: Navita
orcid: 0000-0001-7408-8197
- first_name: Krishnendu
full_name: Maji, Krishnendu
id: 76bc9e9f-ba0b-11ee-8184-90edabd17a58
last_name: Maji
- first_name: Tobias
full_name: Kleinhanns, Tobias
id: 8BD9DE16-AB3C-11E9-9C8C-2A03E6697425
last_name: Kleinhanns
orcid: 0000-0003-1537-7436
- first_name: Jordi
full_name: Llorca, Jordi
last_name: Llorca
- first_name: Qi
full_name: Wang, Qi
id: 0d37923a-aca1-11ef-951f-fd411b71d5f0
last_name: Wang
- first_name: Maria Garcia
full_name: Ramon, Maria Garcia
id: 1ffff7cd-ed76-11ed-8d5f-be5e7c364eb9
last_name: Ramon
- first_name: Sambit
full_name: Das, Sambit
last_name: Das
- first_name: Vikram
full_name: Gavini, Vikram
last_name: Gavini
- first_name: Yu
full_name: Liu, Yu
id: 2A70014E-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Liu
orcid: 0000-0001-7313-6740
- first_name: Maria
full_name: Ibáñez, Maria
id: 43C61214-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
last_name: Ibáñez
orcid: 0000-0001-5013-2843
citation:
ama: Fiedler C, Horta S, Jakhar N, et al. Alkali ions retained from synthesis govern
microstructure and transport in solution-processed SnSe. Chemistry of Materials.
2026;38(18):9323–9332. doi:10.1021/acs.chemmater.6c01284
apa: Fiedler, C., Horta, S., Jakhar, N., Maji, K., Kleinhanns, T., Llorca, J., …
Ibáñez, M. (2026). Alkali ions retained from synthesis govern microstructure and
transport in solution-processed SnSe. Chemistry of Materials. American
Chemical Society. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.6c01284
chicago: Fiedler, Christine, Sharona Horta, Navita Jakhar, Krishnendu Maji, Tobias
Kleinhanns, Jordi Llorca, Qi Wang, et al. “Alkali Ions Retained from Synthesis
Govern Microstructure and Transport in Solution-Processed SnSe.” Chemistry
of Materials. American Chemical Society, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.6c01284.
ieee: C. Fiedler et al., “Alkali ions retained from synthesis govern microstructure
and transport in solution-processed SnSe,” Chemistry of Materials, vol.
38, no. 18. American Chemical Society, pp. 9323–9332, 2026.
ista: Fiedler C, Horta S, Jakhar N, Maji K, Kleinhanns T, Llorca J, Wang Q, Ramon
MG, Das S, Gavini V, Liu Y, Ibáñez M. 2026. Alkali ions retained from synthesis
govern microstructure and transport in solution-processed SnSe. Chemistry of Materials.
38(18), 9323–9332.
mla: Fiedler, Christine, et al. “Alkali Ions Retained from Synthesis Govern Microstructure
and Transport in Solution-Processed SnSe.” Chemistry of Materials, vol.
38, no. 18, American Chemical Society, 2026, pp. 9323–9332, doi:10.1021/acs.chemmater.6c01284.
short: C. Fiedler, S. Horta, N. Jakhar, K. Maji, T. Kleinhanns, J. Llorca, Q. Wang,
M.G. Ramon, S. Das, V. Gavini, Y. Liu, M. Ibáñez, Chemistry of Materials 38 (2026)
9323–9332.
corr_author: '1'
das_tickbox: '0'
date_created: 2026-09-21T10:33:48Z
date_published: 2026-09-22T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-10-06T12:16:03Z
day: '22'
ddc:
- '540'
department:
- _id: MaIb
- _id: GradSch
- _id: NanoFab
doi: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.6c01284
ec_funded: 1
external_id:
pmid:
- '42787739'
file:
- access_level: open_access
checksum: 15e7866ca4fd57f5526737945651a6f2
content_type: application/pdf
creator: dernst
date_created: 2026-10-06T12:11:04Z
date_updated: 2026-10-06T12:11:04Z
file_id: '23063'
file_name: 2026_ChemistryMaterials_Fiedler.pdf
file_size: 7461570
relation: main_file
success: 1
file_date_updated: 2026-10-06T12:11:04Z
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.6c01284
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: ' 38'
issue: '18'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '09'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 9323–9332
pmid: 1
project:
- _id: 9B8F7476-BA93-11EA-9121-9846C619BF3A
name: 'HighTE: The Werner Siemens Laboratory for the High Throughput Discovery of
Semiconductors for Waste Heat Recovery'
- _id: fc2ed2f7-9c52-11eb-aca3-c01059dda49c
call_identifier: H2020
grant_number: '101034413'
name: 'IST-BRIDGE: International postdoctoral program'
- _id: 260C2330-B435-11E9-9278-68D0E5697425
call_identifier: H2020
grant_number: '754411'
name: ISTplus - Postdoctoral Fellowships
publication: Chemistry of Materials
publication_identifier:
eissn:
- 1520-5002
issn:
- 0897-4756
publication_status: published
publisher: American Chemical Society
quality_controlled: '1'
researchdata_availability: no
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
supplementarymaterial: yes
title: Alkali ions retained from synthesis govern microstructure and transport in
solution-processed SnSe
tmp:
image: /images/cc_by.png
legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 38
year: '2026'
...