Mass Production of High-Quality Transition Metal Dichalcogenides Nanosheets via a Molten Salt Method

2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are well suited for energy storage and field-effect transistors because of their thickness-dependent chemical and physical properties. However, as current synthetic methods for 2D TMDs cannot integrate both advantages of liquid-phase syntheses (i.e., massive production and homogeneity) and chemical vapor deposition (i.e., high quality and large lateral size), it still remains a great challenge for mass production of high-quality 2D TMDs. Here, a molten salt method to massively synthesize various high-crystalline TMDs nanosheets (MoS2, WS2, MoSe2, and WSe2) with the thicknesses less than 5 nm is reported, with the production yield over 68% with the reaction time of only several minutes. Additionally, the thickness and size of the as-synthesized nanosheets can be readily controlled through adjusting reaction time and temperature. The as-synthesized MoSe2 nanosheets exhibit good electrochemical performance as pseudocapacitive materials. It is further anticipates that this work will provide a promising strategy for rapid mass production of high-quality nonoxides nanosheets for energy-related applications and beyond.