The Effect of Precursors Concentration on the Structural Properties of MoS₂ Nanosheet-Microsphere Synthesized Via Hydrothermal Route

MoS₂ nanosheet-microsphere was successfully synthesized via hydrothermal route by applying precursor of ammonium heptamolybdate and thiourea. The precursor concentration was varied of 0.25 M, 0.5 M, 1.0 M and 1.5 M. The crystal structure, morphology and particle size of as-synthesized MoS₂ were observed as the effect of the precursors concentration. MoS₂ nanosheet-microspheres were prepared inside the hydrothermal autoclave at 200 °C for 24 hours. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) characterization result showed the structure of hexagonal 2H-MoS₂ crystals in the absence of other secondary phase. XRD characterization results also revealed that MoS₂ with a precursor concentration of 0.25 M has better crystallinity in 002 plane compared to MoS₂ synthesized with other precursor concentrations. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) observation indicated the shape of nanosheets with a thickness of several tens nanometers which were assembled to form microsphere. SEM result also showed precursor concentrations of 0.25M to 1.5M affects to the formation of nanosheet-microsphere MoS₂ particle in which along the increasing of the precursor concentration the nanosheet-microsphere particle not all well-formed. Particle Size Analyzer result showed the average particle size decreased and the average specific surface area increased with increasing precursor concentration.