Encapsulation of WC within 2H-WS2 inorganic fullerene-like cages

Abstract

The preparation of WC encapsulated within 2H-WS2 inorganic fullerene-like (IF) cages by sulfidisation is described; the encapsulates were prepared from both high surface area (high Sg) and low surface area (low Sg) WC precursors; for low Sg WC, partial conversion of the carbide to the sulfide only was achieved with 2–20 IF layers obtained around carbide particles, resulting in WC/2H-WS2 composites; the amount of conversion obtained in the case of the high Sg WC depended on the method of preparation of the precursor; total conversion to 2H-WS2 was obtained from a precursor obtained by carburisation of small WO3 particles, while only partial conversion was obtained in the instance of high Sg WC prepared from ball-milled low Sg WC.