Investigation exfoliated MoS2 and its Nanocomposites

Abstract

The discovery of Graphene opened exciting new pathways into the striking world of 2D materials by revealing exotic condensed matter phenomena absent in bulk materials. The criticality of dimensionality of materials plays an intrinsic role in properties which was highlighted by Graphene and investigated in materials like Transition Metal Dichalcogenides such as MoS2. While graphene remains inherently chemically inert and requires considerable functionalization for various applications, exfoliated sheets of MoS2 preserve its semiconducting nature and offer an exotic blend of properties which can be used in multiple applications ranging from hydrogen evolution to opto-electronics and energy storage. The project focused on investigating exfoliation of MoS2 by Liquid Exfoliation Method and optimizing key parameters such material and solvent concentrations, sonication times and centrifugation speeds based on UV-Vis absorption. The final optimal parameters that yielded the highest concentration of each material were: 3 mg/ml material concentration in N-Methyl-2- pyrrolidone (NMP) Solvent, 48 hour pulsed tip sonication method, and 1-hr 500 RPM centrifugation. Computational methods were employed to study tensile behavior of MoS2 under different conditions. Exfoliated MoS2 flakes were used to reinforce Polyurethane matrix and improvements in mechanical properties were observed.