Synthesis of cobalt sulfide nanostructures by a facile solvothermal growth process

We reported a facile and efficient solvothermal route to produce cobalt sulfide (CoS) nanoflakes and cobalt disulfide (CoS2) nanoparticles in pure diethylenetriamine solvent. The CoS nanoflakes and CoS2 nanopaticles were obtained by using thiourea and sulfur powders as precursors, respectively. The CoS nanoflakes are of regular hexagonal shapes, and are single crystal with hexagonal phase. The obtained CoS2 nanoparticles are of single-crystalline cubic structures and the average size is about 5 nm. Moreover, it is found that the quantity of thiourea influences the corresponding morphologies of the CoS nanostructures, but has no effects on their phase structures. The formation mechanisms of the nanostructures were investigated and presented some new features that may be applied in synthesis of other transition metal sulfide nanostructures. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.