Preparation, characterization and photoelectrochemical property of ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets via hydrothermal intercalation and exfoliation route

A simple but effective hydrothermal intercalation and exfoliation route is developed to prepare ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets in high yield. The morphologies and microstructures of as prepared products are characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. It is found that zerovalent lithium is readily intercalated between the layers of MoS2 using ethylene glycol as both reductant and solvent in hydrothermal process. Subsequently ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets with good quality are obtained by the removing of lithium via the exfoliating process in water. The obtained ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets exhibit preferable photoelectrochemical and photoresponse activity under the illumination of simulated sunlight compared to bulk MoS2. Our results indicate that ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets have promising applications in photo-electrochemistry, heterogeneous catalysis, sensors and optoelectronic nanodevices. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.