Most Common Form of Tungsten Disulfide Nanomaterials: Nanosheets

Polarization curves of WS2-RGO hybrid nanosheets and corresponding Tafel plots recorded on glassy carbon electrodes image

Nanosheets of tungsten disulfide nanomaterials are the most common form, and the main synthetic strategies can be divided into two categories: top-down and bottom-up approaches. Top-down approaches allow the production of small amounts or single-layer samples at a lower cost, which is very beneficial for basic research. Among these top-down methods, mechanical peeling via Scotch tape is the simplest method, with only a few or single layers of WS2 exfoliated via Scotch tape.

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Controlled Synthesis of Tungsten Disulfide Nanomaterials

Polarization curves and corresponding Tafel plots of bulk of WS2 WS2 nanofakes and WS2 nanorattles image

1T-WS2 structure and 2H-WS2 structure of tungsten disulfide nanomaterials controlled synthesis is important. The 1T-WS2 structure is considered an efficient co-catalyst for hydrogen evolution due to the increased density of catalytic active sites and the metal conductivity, while the 2H-WS2 structure can be used as a visible photosensitizer. Therefore, various synthetic methods for the crystalline phase modulation of WS2 have received much attention. Since the conversion from 1T-WS2 to stable 2H-WS2 can be easily achieved by annealing, the study of feasible methods to achieve the opposite conversion has received much attention.

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Light Absorption and Photocatalytic Characteristics of Tungsten Disulfide Nanomaterials

Schematic description of the main liquid exfoliation and ALD mechanisms image

Compared with semiconducting materials, tungsten disulfide nanomaterials exhibit higher light absorption, and photocatalytic properties are another important property. For semiconductor materials, light absorption properties are very important, especially for photocatalysis. When WS2 absorbs photons, transitions between in-band, out-of-band, and impurity defects occur, which can form specific absorption spectra. The characteristic absorption peak of bulk WS2 is near the wavelength of 910 nm and is located in the near-infrared (NIR) region. By forming nanostructures, a blue shift of the WS2 characteristic absorption peak can be observed.

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Electrical Characteristic and HER Mechanism of Tungsten Disulfide Nanomaterials

Schematic illustration of the forming process of WS2 samples with different morphologies image

Due to the promising applications of tungsten disulfide nanomaterials in the field of energy conversion and storage, efforts have been made to study and improve its electrical characteristic and HER mechanism of WS2, such as carrier concentration (p), mobility (μ), and resistivity (ρ). According to theoretical predictions, WS2 has the highest electron mobility in semiconductor TMDCs due to the reduced effective mass.

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Tungsten Disulfide Nanomaterials Applied in Energy Conversion and Storage

Schematic illustration of absolute band positions with respect to the vacuum level image

Due to the rapid growth of the global population and rapid socio-economic development, energy and environmental issues have received widespread attention. As a transition metal disulfide, tungsten disulfide nanomaterials have made important research advances in the field of energy conversion and storage. Given the versatility and rich microstructure of these materials, the plasticity and controlled synthesis of tungsten disulfide (WS2) nanomaterials are of interest to researchers.

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