Carbon nanotube hybrids with MoS2 and WS2 synthesized with control of crystal structure and morphology

Abstract

Carbon nanotube hybrids with molybdenum and tungsten disulfides have attracted lots of attentions due to their unique electronic and photonic properties. MoS2 and WS2 with different layers and morphology have been produced from homogeneous ultra-fine MoO3 and WO3 nanoparticles (1–2nm) with different densities on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in this work. The different MWCNT hybrid structures not only provide the investigation feasibility of exciton transfer but also give potential applications of catalysts and batteries. A facile method, ultra-sonication, has been adopted to produce MWCNT hybrids with homogeneous ultra-dense and ultra-fine MoO3 and WO3 nanoparticles. The as-produced molybdenum trioxide nanoparticles and free-standing molybdenum trioxide nanowires from the same method with different reaction time have been found to crystallize in different crystal lattices. The nanoparticle morphology leads to the detachment of H2O from molybdenum trioxide lattices, which was confirmed by thermodynamic analysis based on density functional theory. MWCNT hybrids with layered MoS2 and WS2 are preferred after the sulfuration of MoO3 and WO3 nanoparticle-MWCNT hybrid structures. The layers and morphology of MoS2 and WS2 have been controlled by the densities of trioxide nanoparticle precursors on MWCNTs.