Progress in selenium based metal-organic precursors for main group and transition metal selenide thin films and nanomaterials

Abstract Metal selenide nanomaterials are important semiconductors, which have a diverse range of applications in optoelectronic, electrical, photoelectric and thermoelectric devices. However, unlike their sulfur analogues, the selenides are not well explored, mainly due to the limited choice of starting materials and complex synthetic protocols. Herein, we review the use of selenium based single source precursors which have been used over the past two decades to prepare metal selenide nanoparticles and/or thin films by different routes.