Controllable synthesis of MoS2/graphene low-dimensional nanocomposites and their electrical properties

In this study, a novel hydrothermal route has been developed for the synthesis of MoS2/graphene composite with controllable structures, in which ammonium molybdatetetrahydrate, as-prepared graphene oxide (GO), and thioacetamide were used as staring materials. Effects of Mo4+-to-C precursor ratios and crystalline time on the structures, components and morphologies of MoS2/graphene were investigated. MoS2/graphene samples were characterized using XRD, FESEM, HRTEM, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, HAADF-STEM/EDS, HXPES and electrical measurements. The results show that petal-like MoS2 nanostructures with ultrathin petals (~1–10 layers) and coexistence of 1T- and 2H-MoS2 phases can be synthesized on graphene surface in a short time (~2 h). Comparison of crystallization conditions, we found that the crystallization time had a significant effect on the size of the MoS2 nanopetals. The shorter the reaction time is, the thinner the petal-like MoS2 nanoscale is. On the other hand, by adjusting the ratios of Mo4+to C (denoted as: MoS2/C (1:2), MoS2/C (3:2), MoS2/C (2.5:1) and MoS2/C (3:1)), different MoS2/graphene architectures including “sandwich-liked”, “layer–by–layer” and “anchored” can be obtained. On the basis of these results, a possible growth mechanism of MoS2nanopetals on GO was proposed. Interestingly, the as-synthesized material depicts its memristive behavior through the Volt-Ampere characteristics, suggesting a potential application in logic memory devices.