Low temperature chemical preparation of semiconducting transition metal chalcogenide films for energy conversion and storage, lubrication and surface protection

Abstract

A simple technique is presented for the production of films of transition metal disulfides such as MoS2, WS2, FeS2, or RuS2 by the reaction of transition metal carbonyls (e.g. Mo(CO)6, W(CO)6, Fe(CO)5, Ru3(CO)12) with a sulfur source (e.g. S, H2S) in an organic solvent (e.g. benzene, toluene, xylene, mesitylene (1,3,5-trimethyl-benzene)) at temperatures ranging between 80 to 165 °C. The quality of the materials and films has been investigated and some applications are discussed. They include use of the chemically prepared sulfides as photoactive materials (e.g. MoS2, WS2, FeS2), as lubricating films (MoS2), as electrodes for Li-batteries (MoS2, FeS2) and for corrosion protection (RuS2).