Properties of Tungsten Disulfide (I)

Tungsten disulfide has a molecular formula of WS₂ and a molecular weight of 247.97. It is a compound of tungsten and sulfur with grey metallic luster. Tungsten disulfide has properties including anisotropy, reactivity and catalytic activity, which make it an important material in petroleum industry and other fields.

The following are some properties of tungsten disulfide.

1. Anisotropy of tungsten disulfide.

Anisotropy means that all or part of the properties of a substance change with the switch of direction. WS₂ has a layer structure with the basic unit of S-W-S sandwich layer. S atoms and W atoms combine with strong covalent bonds within the sandwich layer, while the layers bond with the weak van der Waals forces. The strong covalent bonds in the sandwich layer and the weak van der Waals forces between layers make anisotropy of tungsten disulfide.

2. Reactivity of tungsten disulfide.

WS₂ can be regarded as the reaction vessel of charge and the inserts during the insertion reaction. WS₂ molecules are inert, so WS₂ cannot be corroded by ordinary hydrochloric acid, nitric acid and sulfuric acid except for the mixture of hydrofluoric acid and aqua regia. WS₂ is also resistant to photoerosion in solution, which makes it has strong application value in photochemistry.

3. Catalytic activity of tungsten disulfide.

WS₂ is a kind of catalyst with high catalytic activity. It has been widely studied in the application of hydrogenation, hydrogenation desulfurization, etc. For the preparation of WS₂ catalysts, it usually needs catalyst carriers such as SiO₂, TiO₂ and activated carbon together with the promoters of CO, Ni and other metals. In addition, WS₂ is disunited by some special processing methods during the preparation. With the catalytic activity, tungsten disulfide is widely applied in the petroleum industry, photocatalysis, preparation of inorganic functional materials and other fields.

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