Hydrothermal synthesis and characterization of 3D flower-like MoS2 microspheres

Three-dimensional (3D) flower-like MoS2 microspheres with diameter of about 4 mu m were successfully synthesized by a facile hydrotherrnal solution reaction method, using hexaammonium heptamolybdate tetrahydrate ((NH4)(6)Mo7O24) and thiourea as the precursors. As-prepared MoS2 samples were characterized by XRD, EDS, SEM, and TEM. SEM results showed that the obtained 3D flower-like MoS2 microspheres are comprised of very thin nanosheets with the thickness about 20 nm. The influence of reaction time on the formation of MoS2 microspheres was investigated. A possible growth mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of MoS2 microspheres on the basis of observations of a time-dependent morphology evolution process. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.