Synthesis and characterization of flowerlike MoS2 nanostructures through CTAB-assisted hydrothermal process

Abstract MoS 2 nanoflowers were successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal process with the help of a surfactant. The products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). X-ray diffraction results showed that the as-prepared product was the hexagonal phase of MoS 2 without any impurity. TEM and SEM images showed that the MoS 2 nanoflowers had uniform sizes with diameter of about 1–2 μm and were constructed with many irregular nanosheets as a petal-like structure with thickness of several nanometers. A possible formation mechanism of the MoS 2 nanoflowers was preliminarily proposed on the basis of observations of a time-dependent morphology evolution process.