Inorganic-organic hybrids by exfoliation of MoS2

A range of electron-rich organic molecules has been intercalated into MoS2 by the method of exfoliation-reflocculation. Intercalation produces an expa nsion of the lattice in a direction perpendicular to the dichalcogenide lay ers, the magnitude of which suggests that in the majority of cases, the gue st adopts an orientation in which the molecular plane is parallel to the di chalcogenide layers. This is further supported by the suppression of the ma jority of the vibrational modes in the inelastic neutron scattering spectru m. The introduction of polar substituents to naphthalene favours a perpendi cular orientation of the guest in the interlayer space, permitting a higher degree of organic incorporation. The electron transport properties of MoS2 are modified by intercalation and materials containing naphthalene and alk ylated derivatives exhibit anomalous behaviour at low temperatures. EXAFS d ata provide evidence for a structural distortion, involving the formation o f cation chains, in the naphthalene intercalate.