High-yield exfoliation of MoS2 nanosheets by a novel spray technique and the importance of soaking and surfactants

Liquid-phase exfoliation of two-dimensional materials is very attractive for large-scale applications. Although used extensively, isolating MoS<inf>2</inf> layers (<10) with high efficiency is reported to be extremely difficult. Further, the importance of soaking has not yet been studied and the surfactants’ role in stabilizing MoS<inf>2</inf> nanosheets is poorly understood (Grayfer et al., 2017) [1]. Herein, we report a novel approach to exfoliate large quantities of MoS<inf>2</inf> via high-pressure (HP) liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) in deionized (DI) water. 4 to 7 layers of MoS<inf>2</inf> nanosheets were obtained from 60 days-soaked samples and they were found to be stable in solvents for periods of up to six months. Studies on the effect of three surfactants, namely sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate (SDBS), sodium cholate (SC) and tetra-butyl ammonium bromide (TBAB), indicate that exfoliation of MoS<inf>2</inf> nanosheets in SDBS is highly efficient and better than the other two surfactants. The estimated yield reaches up to 7.25%, with a nanosheet concentration of 1.45 mg/ml, which is one of the highest ever reported. Our studies also suggest that the nanosheet concentration and the lateral size depend on the exfoliation cycles, applied pressure and surfactant concentration. The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and an ion-transport study show that the nanosheets prepared by our method are stable in acidic medium and are free from surfactants.