Defect-free MoS2 nanosheets: Advanced nanofillers for polymer nanocomposites

Abstract The preparation of defect-free MoS 2 nanosheets is a key challenge and essential for practical applications. Herein the dodecanethiol was firstly performed as the antioxidant and surface modifier to produce the defect-free MoS 2 by direct ultrasonication of bulk MoS 2 in N , N -dimethylformamide. Incorporating defect-free MoS 2 into polyethylene obviously improved the properties of PE/MoS 2 nanocomposites. For crystallization under quiescent condition, the half crystallization time ( t 0 . 5 ) of nanocomposites containing 0.2 wt% MoS 2 was reduced by 87.0% compared to that of neat PE. A 54.3 °C increase in the temperature of maximum weight loss ( T max ) was observed by inclusion of as low as 0.7 wt% defect-free MoS 2 nanosheets. In addition, the uniformly distributed MoS 2 can considerably improve the mechanical properties of composites. These observations suggest that the robust nature, dramatic barrier action of defect-free MoS 2 and the strong nanosheets/matrix interfacial adhesion would be the motivation to improve the performance of the polymeric nanocomposites.