ORDERING AND MANIPULATION OF MOS2 PLATELETS ON DIFFERENTLY CHARGED MICAS BY ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPY

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to investigate how dispers ed MoS2 platelets (from colloidal suspensions) deposit onto three natu ral(Muscovite) mica (001) surfaces. Different platelet arrangements ar e observed, which are attributed to defects and charging effects of th e mica (as well as the concentration of starting colloid). The provena nce of the mica influences the self-organisation of the platelets into long tape-like assemblies (South Dakota mica) or individual flakes (A lps mica). Atomic scale imaging of the tapes reveals a distorted octah edral (O-h)-based local structure, different from the trigonal prismat ic structure found in the 2H-polytype of annealed MoS2, in agreement w ith previous structural results on water-dispersed MoS2 platelets. The buckling and susceptibility to stripping of the tapes is ascribed to the presence of a water layer between the substrate mica and MoS2, and after stripping by the tip, the platelets ultimately form small clust ers. The ordering of these clusters depends not only on the defect and charge structure of the mica, but also on complex hydration reactions between the H2O layer associated with the MoS2 and K+ ions of the mic a. Relatively symmetrical squares may be lifted out of the tapes, supp orting the presence of weak bonding between tape and mica. Conversely, Alps and Bihar micas give rise to separate platelets, which are resis tent to tip manipulation, which is attributed to hydrophobic interacti on between MoS2 platelets and the mica surface.