Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of quasi-1-D tungsten disulfide nanocrystal

Quasi-1-D (one-dimensional) tungsten disulfide (WS2) nanocrystal was synthesized through a two-step hydrothermal process. Energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) identified that the chemical composition of the final product was WS2. The produced nanocrystal was further characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results have shown that most of the products are quasi-1-D nanocrystals with the width around 140 nanometers and thickness about 30 nanometers. However, the length of the majority of nanocrystals could reach 1 micron. The selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern indicates that the nanocrystal is of a single crystal. N-2 adsorption measurement revealed that the BET specific surface area of this sample is 97 m(2) g(-1), which indicates that the as-prepared product has better catalyzing and friction performance.