Superacid Treatment on Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

Superacids are strong acids with an acidity higher than pure sulfuric acid. Recently, superacid treatment of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) flakes, such as MoS2 and WS2, has shown a dramatic enhancement of optical properties, such as photoluminescence (PL) intensity. The superacid molecule is bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide (TFSI). In this review paper, we summarize and discuss the recent works and the current understanding of the TFSI treatment, and finally, we describe the outlook of the treatment on monolayer TMDCs.

Automated summary

In this review paper, the authors summarize and discuss the recent works on the superacid treatment of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) flakes, such as MoS2 and WS2, using bis(trifluoromethane)sulfonimide (TFSI) as the superacid molecule. They find that the superacid treatment can dramatically enhance the optical properties of TMDCs, especially the photoluminescence intensity. However, further studies are needed to understand the mechanism of the superacid treatment and explore its potential applications in monolayer TMDCs.