A novel route to obtain molybdenum dichalcogenides by hydrothermal reaction

Hydrothermal reactions between aqueous Na2MoO4, Na2ESO3 (E=S, Se) and hydra zine monohydrate at 135 degrees C for 12 h produce phase-pure MoS2 and MoSe 2 with good yield of about 90%. X-ray powder diffraction, chemical analysis and Xray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to characterize the structur e and composition of the products annealed at 350 degrees C. Transmission e lectron microscopy images show that the samples of MoS2 and MoSe2 consist o f nano-crystallites with average particle size of 4 nm and 7 nm, respective ly.