Nanowire templated CVD synthesis and morphological control of MoS2 nanotubes

Abstract

Although the syntheses of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) nanoparticles, nanosheets, and nanotubes (NTs) have been reported for years, the synthesis and morphological control of the few-layered MoS₂ NTs are still a great challenge, where a template-assisted route is barely seen among the gas-phase reactions at elevated temperature. Here, we report the nanowire (NW) templated chemical vapor deposition (CVD) synthesis of few-layered MoS₂ NTs by utilizing a sacrificial template in the CVD process. The MoS₂ NTs exhibit good structural integrity derived from the high temperature gas-phase reaction. Moreover, the diameter of the NTs and layer number of MoS₂ are controllable. A field effect transistor (FET) device is fabricated to study the electrical property of a single MoS₂ NT, and the carrier mobility is obtained. This work provides an effective route for the synthesis of the MoS₂ NTs with only a few layers of thickness and could promote the synthesis of other one-dimensional (1-D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanomaterials.