Structural investigation of MoS2 core-shell nanoparticles formed by an arc discharge in water

The intense environment of an electric arc has been used to create MoS2 core-shell particles. Instead of running the arc in a vacuum chamber under reduced pressure conditions, an arc discharge in water was employed. The arc was run between a carbon cathode and a Mo hollow rod anode whose interior was packed with MoS2 powder. High-resolution electron microscopy and image simulations have been used to characterize the structure of the resultant material which was seen to consist of agglomerates of polyhedral MoS2 cages with filled cores. A correlation between the,growth conditions and the observed nanostructure is presented.