To improve the electrical and catalytic properties of WS₂, the synthesis of WS₂ composites from other materials with good electrical conductivity is a promising approach. Composites are materials in which one material is the matrix and another material is used as the reinforcement. The various materials complement each other in terms of properties and create a synergistic effect, resulting in an overall performance superior to the original material.

In WS₂ hybrid structures, atomic doping is one of the effective ways to change the physical and chemical properties of the material, such as band gap and optical properties. For example, Sasaki et al. demonstrated that the exciton absorption peaks at 1.94 and 2.34 eV, respectively, were broadened by Nb doping. This suggests that excitons in WS₂ monolayers are sensitive to Nb doping because of the enhancement of the inhomogeneous broadening rate.

Various forms of WS₂ nanomaterials include nanosheets, IF-WS₂, NT-WS₂, and other forms. Chemical gas-solid reactions are the most well-known and established method for the synthesis of IF WS₂ nanoparticles and nanotubes. Tenne et al. initially synthesized IF WS₂ nanoparticles and nanotubes using WO₃ films and H₂S in a reducing atmosphere (95% N₂ + 5% H₂) at 850 °C. However, only a small amount of products could be synthesized by this method.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

An article published in the Journal of Solid State Chemistry by Schutte et al. illustrates that crystal structures of tungsten disulfide (WS₂) and tungsten diselenide (WSe₂) host the same type of layered structure as molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂). In addition to the common hexagonal 2H form of WS₂, a rhombohedral form, 3R-WS₂, has also been reported, which is isotypic to the rhombohedral form of MoS₂.

The crystal structure of tungsten disulfide (WS₂) belongs to the P6₃/mmc space group with lattice parameters of a = 0.31532 nm and c = 1.2323 nm measured by X-ray diffraction. As a typical representative of two-dimensional layered transition metal dichloride (TMDC) materials with a structure consisting of 0.6-0.7 nm thick X-M-X interlayers (M is transition metal; X = S, Se, Te).