Hydrothermal synthesis and controlled growth of group-VIB W metal compound nanostructures from tungsten oxide to tungsten disulphide

Two-dimensional lateral group-VIB transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted much attention in the fast evolving field of advanced photoelectric functional materials, but their controllable fabrication is challenging. Herein, an emerging synthetic route for sulfurization of tungsten oxide was developed. During the hydrothermal reaction, the optimization of the precursor selection and synthesis parameters led to the tunable properties of WO₃-WS_xO_y-WS₂ nanostructures. The vulcanization was thermodynamically favorably at low temperatures and in an environment with a sufficient S source, wherein WO₃ was reduced by H atoms to WO_3-x, and S atoms were preferentially adsorbed on O vacancies. The WS_xO_y nanostructures have a narrow band-gap attributed to the effect of S on the valence band top and electronic density of states by density functional theory. The photocurrent response and charge transfer properties of WS_xO_y were improved due to the charge transport between WS₂ and WO₃. Understanding the formation and transformation of WS₂ nanostructures in solution contributes to the discovery of the important structure-efficiency relationship, which may be extended to other TMDs systems. Hence, extensive research efforts are still needed to develop safer and more efficient synthesis and modification methods to fully utilize the distinctive advantageous properties of TMDs in the photoelectric field.