Fast fabrication of High-Yield WS2 nanoscrolls via ultrasound sonication

Abstract

Transforming the bulk of tungsten disulfide (WS2) into one-dimensional (1D) nanoscrolls has potential applications in a variety of fields. The current methods for fabricating (1D) WS2 nanoscrolls suffer from low yields, high temperatures, a complicated fabrication process, and the use of surfactants. We have reported a facile and cost-effective approach for fabricating WS2 nanoscrolls in high yield using ultrasound probe sonication (20 KHz) from bulk WS2 in dimethylformamide (DMF) in two hours. Importantly, this simple method achieves a 90 % WS2 nanoscroll yield. This depends on critical experimental parameters such as the choice of solvent, the initial concentration of WS2, and the sonication time. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements confirm that the nanoscrolls have a closely uniform shape, with an interlayer spacing of ∼ 0.62 nm between adjacent layers of WS2 nanoscrolls. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) reveals that the nanoscrolls have a length of approximately 650 nm and a height profile of 5–10 nm, indicating their formation from multiple layers of WS2. We further investigate the fabricated nanoscrolls using other techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy.

Keywords

• WS2
• Nanoscroll
• Probe ultrasonication
• High yield
• Exfoliation