SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MOLYBDENUM BASED COLLOIDAL PARTICLES

The synthesis and characterization of molybdenum colloidal particles w ere evaluated using thermal and sonochemical methods and starting from different metal precursors, Mo(CO)(6) and (NH4)(2)MoS4. The products were characterized by elemental analysis, spectroscopic (UV, FTIR), an d surface analysis (XPS) techniques, as well as by transmission electr on microscopy (TEM) for determining the particle sizes. Using Mo(CO)(6 ) as metal source, particle sizes with an average diameter of 1.5 nm c an be obtained using tert-amyl alcohol as solvent and tetrahydrothioph ene as sulfurating ligand. The characterization of these particles sho wed that they are composed of molybdenum oxide MoO3. Using (NH4)(2)MoS 4 as metal precursor, particles with average diameters of 4.7 and 2.5 nm were synthesized using thermal and sonochemical methods, respective ly. The characterization of these particles showed them to be composed of molybdenum sulfide, MoS2. The sonochemical method proved to be the fastest and most convenient synthetic pathway of obtaining small coll oidal particles at low temperatures and with control of the average si ze, (C) 1998 Academic Press.