Influence of thickness and morphology of MoS₂ on the performance of counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells

• Lam Thuy Thi Mai,
• Hai Viet Le,
• Ngan Kim Thi Nguyen,
• Van La Tran Pham,
• Thu Anh Thi Nguyen,
• Nguyen Thanh Le Huynh and
• Hoang Thai Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 528–537, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.44

• disulfide (MoS2) was prepared on substrates coated with fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) to substitute the platinum counter electrode (CE) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Herein, we synthesized layered and honeycomb-like MoS2 thin films via the cyclic voltammetry (CV) route. Thickness and morphology

• of the MoS2 thin films were controlled via the concentration of precursor solution. The obtained results showed that MoS2 thin films formed at a low precursor concentration had a layered morphology while a honeycomb-like MoS2 thin film was formed at a high precursor concentration. Both types of MoS2

• thin film were composed of 1T and 2H structures and exhibited excellent electrocatalytic activity for the I3–/I− redox couple. DSSCs assembled using these MoS2 CEs showed a maximal power conversion efficiency of 7.33%. The short-circuit value reached 16.3 mA·cm−2, which was higher than that of a

Electrostatic pull-in application in flexible devices: A review

• Teng Cai,
• Yuming Fang,
• Yingli Fang,
• Ruozhou Li,
• Ying Yu and
• Mingyang Huang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 390–403, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.32

• CVD for analog and digital bandwidth phase shifters. The phase shift was 355°/dB in the analog design at 2.4 GHz and 138°/dB in the digital design. Anjum et al. [60] used GR/MoS2 composite materials as beam to decrease the pull-in voltage below 1 V, which can be used in RF applications requiring low

Theoretical understanding of electronic and mechanical properties of 1T′ transition metal dichalcogenide crystals

• Seyedeh Alieh Kazemi,
• Sadegh Imani Yengejeh,
• Vei Wang,
• William Wen and
• Yun Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 160–171, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.11

• comparatively weak van der Waals (vdW) interactions [7]. The most extensively studied TMDs, including MoS2, MoSe2, WS2, and WSe2, can display different structural polytypes (e.g., 2H, 3R, 1T, and 1T′) [8]. Previous studies have revealed that the structures significantly affected the properties and physical

• ability to predict the mechanical characteristics of 1T′ TMD materials [33]. In this comparative study, the electronic and mechanical properties including shear modulus (G), bulk modulus (B), Young’s modulus (Y), Poisson’s ratio (ν), and microhardness (H), of MoS2, MoSe2, WS2, and WSe2 crystals with the

• to the reported electronic properties of TMDs. However, there are still some subtle differences between the pDOS graphs. It can be found that the MoS2 and WS2 have relatively strong peaks at the E − EFermi range between −4 and −3 eV. As a comparison, the DOS of diselenides in the range between −2 and

Assessment of the optical and electrical properties of light-emitting diodes containing carbon-based nanostructures and plasmonic nanoparticles: a review

• Keshav Nagpal,
• Erwan Rauwel,
• Frédérique Ducroquet and
• Protima Rauwel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1078–1092, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.80

• . obtained an optimum concentration of 0.03 wt % of graphene in PEDOT:PSS [65]. A combination of MoS2 and graphene sheets has also displayed good HIL tendencies due to the high surface coverage, work function, and low LUMO levels of graphene [66]. With regards to SPR of MNP, green emission enhancement in

• (Figure 7) present the best results in terms of luminance and EL emission. In addition, the electron conductivity of the device is increased by four orders of magnitude. Concerning graphene–polymer nanocomposites, Choudhary et al. have inserted MoS2 and graphene oxide NP into a polyaniline ETL [72]. The

Molecular assemblies on surfaces: towards physical and electronic decoupling of organic molecules

• Sabine Maier and
• Meike Stöhr

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 950–956, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.71

• substrate and the organic building blocks. Recently, two-dimensional (2D) materials, including hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) [22][23], graphene [24][25][26][27], and MoS2 [28], have emerged as monatomically thin decoupling layers. Van der Waals 2D materials are generally well suited due to their chemical

• . The significantly reduced resonance width allowed for resolving vibronic states in both frontier orbitals on graphene/Pt(111) by STS. The semiconducting 2D material MoS2 may act as a decoupling layer for molecules from the underlying metal substrate if the molecular resonances lie within the MoS2

• bandgap. Hence, Yousofnejad et al. [85] found using MoS2 on Ag(111) as substrate that the HOMO of tetracyanoquinodimethane (TNCQ) is not decoupled because it is located in the MoS2 valence band, while the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital narrows but still suffers from lifetime broadening because it is

The role of convolutional neural networks in scanning probe microscopy: a review

• Ido Azuri,
• Irit Rosenhek-Goldian,
• Neta Regev-Rudzki,
• Georg Fantner and
• Sidney R. Cohen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 878–901, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.66

• crystals (van der Waals heterostructures, graphene, hBN, MoS2, and WTe2) was demonstrated. The detection algorithm enables real-time detection of the 2D materials (running for 200 ms on a 1024 × 1024 optical image) and is insensitive to variations in microscopy conditions such as illumination and color

Prediction of Co and Ru nanocluster morphology on 2D MoS₂ from interaction energies

• Cara-Lena Nies and
• Michael Nolan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 704–724, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.56

• Cara-Lena Nies Michael Nolan Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Lee Maltings, Dyke Parade, Cork, T12 R5CP, Ireland NIBEC, School of Engineering, University of Ulster at Jordanstown BT37 0QB, United Kingdom 10.3762/bjnano.12.56 Abstract Layered materials, such as MoS2, have a

• interaction between metals and the MoS2 monolayer is of great importance when selecting systems for specific applications. In previous studies the focus has been largely on the strength of the interaction between a single atom or a nanoparticle of a range of metals, which has created a significant knowledge

• gap in understanding thin film nucleation on 2D materials. In this paper, we present a density functional theory (DFT) study of the adsorption of small Co and Ru structures, with up to four atoms, on a monolayer of MoS2. We explore how the metal–substrate and metal–metal interactions contribute to the

A review of defect engineering, ion implantation, and nanofabrication using the helium ion microscope

• Frances I. Allen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 633–664, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.52

• ]. Various 2D transition metal dichalcogenides have also been the subject of conductivity-tuning studies in the HIM. For example, Fox et al. showed that site-selective helium ion irradiation, introducing point defects and local disorder, transformed targeted regions of a supported pristine few-layer MoS2

• formation of extended metallic edge states in the defective lattice was proposed for the pseudometallic regime [26]. Line irradiation with helium ions bisecting a monolayer MoS2 flake has been shown to create a defective channel that can be used to fabricate a 2D memristive device [27]. And in a subsequent

• study, field-effect transistors based on monolayer MoS2 were irradiated with helium ions over the transistor channel and the effect of varying the size and position of the irradiated area on the electrical performance of the device was characterized [28]. Complimentary work on few-layer WSe2 by Stanford

Local stiffness and work function variations of hexagonal boron nitride on Cu(111)

• Abhishek Grewal,
• Yuqi Wang,
• Matthias Münks,
• Klaus Kern and
• Markus Ternes

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 559–565, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.46

• for graphene and MoS2-based electronics utilising the small lattice mismatch, the large optical phonon modes, and particularly the large bandgap [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Furthermore, when grown on metal substrates h-BN can be used as a nanoscale template for atoms, molecules, and nanostructures with

Interface interaction of transition metal phthalocyanines with strontium titanate (100)

• Reimer Karstens,
• Thomas Chassé and
• Heiko Peisert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 485–496, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.39

• properties. Hence, TMPcs are well suited for systematic studies of interface properties. The fluorination of TMPcs varies exceptionally the ionization potential (IP), affecting distinctly the interface properties [29][30][31][32]. As recently shown for FePcFx/MoS2 [33], a charge transfer at interfaces might

Extended iron phthalocyanine islands self-assembled on a Ge(001):H surface

• Rafal Zuzak,
• Marek Szymonski and
• Szymon Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 232–241, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.19

• molecular wetting layers [15] and two-dimensional materials, such as graphene [16][17], hBN [11][18], or even organic layers [19]. Recently, it has been proposed that a monolayer of transition metal dichalcogenides, for example, MoS2, may play a similar role [4][20][21]. Similarly, it has been reported that

Nanomechanics of few-layer materials: do individual layers slide upon folding?

• Ronaldo J. C. Batista,
• Rafael F. Dias,
• Ana P. M. Barboza,
• Alan B. de Oliveira,
• Taise M. Manhabosco,
• Thiago R. Gomes-Silva,
• Matheus J. S. Matos,
• Andreij C. Gadelha,
• Cassiano Rabelo,
• Luiz G. L. Cançado,
• Ado Jorio,
• Hélio Chacham and
• Bernardo R. A. Neves

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1801–1808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.162

• layered materials as it determines the interlayer slip, which is the dominant mechanism to relieve stress at van der Waals interfaces, leading to phenomena such as the change from plate-like to membrane-like shapes in graphene, hBN, and MoS2 bubbles [12] or the circumferential faceting of multi-walled

Effect of localized helium ion irradiation on the performance of synthetic monolayer MoS₂ field-effect transistors

• Jakub Jadwiszczak,
• Pierce Maguire,
• Conor P. Cullen,
• Georg S. Duesberg and
• Hongzhou Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1329–1335, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.117

• study of the electrical performance of chemically synthesized monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) field-effect transistors irradiated with a focused helium ion beam as a function of increasing areal irradiation coverage. We determine an optimal coverage range of approx. 10%, which allows for the

• improvement of both the carrier mobility in the transistor channel and the electrical conductance of the MoS2, due to doping with ion beam-created sulfur vacancies. Larger areal irradiations introduce a higher concentration of scattering centers, hampering the electrical performance of the device. In addition

• materials; Introduction Layered two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have come to the fore in recent years as promising candidates for the implementation of flexible, transparent, and low-power electronics. In particular, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), have

Nonadiabatic superconductivity in a Li-intercalated hexagonal boron nitride bilayer

• Kamila A. Szewczyk,
• Izabela A. Domagalska,
• Artur P. Durajski and
• Radosław Szczęśniak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1178–1189, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.102

• in Ca-intercalated bilayer graphene) [5]. Also, this value is higher than that of other superconducting low-dimensional structures, e.g., TC ≈ 20 K for a Li- and Na-intercalated blue phosphorene bilayer [47], TC ≈ 16.5 K for a Li-intercalated black phosphorene bilayer [48], and TC≈ 10 K for a Li–MoS2

• ∈ {14.01, 8.64, 4.6} K, for μ* ∈ {0.1, 0.2, 0.3}, respectively. To realize how uncommonly high the value of λωD/εF for Li-hBN is, it is enough to note that for the Li–MoS2 bilayer, we obtain λωD/εF = 0.15 [49]. In bilayers of black and blue phosphorus intercalated with lithium, λωD/εF is equal to 0.05 and

• }, respectively, for μ* ∈ {0.1, 0.14, 0.2}. This means that the effects considered are significant even when we consider the vertex corrections for the electron–phonon interaction. Also note that retardation and strong-coupling effects for Li-hBN are of the same order as in Li-MoS2 bilayer compounds [49], Li

Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of rubrene on clean and graphene-covered metal surfaces

• Karl Rothe,
• Alexander Mehler,
• Nicolas Néel and
• Jörg Kröger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1157–1167, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.100

• , which is assigned to vibronic progression induced by a single group of molecular vibrations with similar quantum energies. Another type of two-dimensional materials is represented by single layers of transition metal dichalcogenides. A single layer of MoS2 on Au(111) has recently been used to

Photothermally active nanoparticles as a promising tool for eliminating bacteria and biofilms

• Mykola Borzenkov,
• Piersandro Pallavicini,
• Angelo Taglietti,
• Laura D’Alfonso,
• Maddalena Collini and
• Giuseppe Chirico

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1134–1146, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.98

• materials, nanoscale metal chalcogenides (Cu2−xE, E = S, Se, Te), transition metal dichalcogenide nanostructures (e.g., WS2, MoS2), metal-oxide nanoparticles (e.g., WO3), and nanoscale coordination compounds (e.g., Prussian blue nanoparticles) [33][36][37][38]. The photothermal properties of these

• nanostructures provided rapid and efficient eradication of up to 99% of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria within 10 min of NIR laser irradiation. In a very recent publication, poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogel incorporating reduced graphene oxide composites (MoS2/Ag3PO4) was fabricated to yield a highly

• NIR irradiation. Among other examples of photothermally active nanoparticles applied for bacteria eradication it is worth mentioning the MoS2 nanoparticles. These nanoparticles have a good biocompatibility and a high photothermal conversion efficiency over a broad NIR range [95]. PEG-MoS2 nanoflowers

Monolayers of MoS₂ on Ag(111) as decoupling layers for organic molecules: resolution of electronic and vibronic states of TCNQ

• Asieh Yousofnejad,
• Gaël Reecht,
• Nils Krane,
• Christian Lotze and
• Katharina J. Franke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1062–1071, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.91

• vibronic states of an almost isolated molecule. Here, we use scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy to show that a single layer of MoS2 on Ag(111) exhibits a semiconducting bandgap, which may prevent molecular states from strong interactions with the metal substrate. We show that the lowest

• the modes with strong electron–phonon coupling. Keywords: decoupling layer; molybdenum disulfide (MoS2); scanning tunneling microscopy, tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ); vibronic states; Introduction When molecules are adsorbed on metal surfaces, their electronic states are strongly perturbed by

• of decoupling layers made use of the in situ fabrication of single layers of transition metal dichalcogenides on metal surfaces. A monolayer of MoS2 on Au(111) provided very narrow molecular resonances, close to the thermal resolution limit at 4.6 K [26]. The exquisite decoupling efficiency has been

Light–matter interactions in two-dimensional layered WSe₂ for gauging evolution of phonon dynamics

• Avra S. Bandyopadhyay,
• Chandan Biswas and
• Anupama B. Kaul

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 782–797, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.63

• the electron–phonon interaction, i.e., scattering of electrons from defects. Chakrabarty et al. reported that the linewidth of the A1g peak in single-layer MoS2 that was subsequently used in transistors, broadened due to n-type doping where the phonon linewidth renormalized under the presence of an

• dependence of the Raman shifts in 2D TMDCs such as MoS2 [20][21][22][23][24], and WS2 [25][26] have been extensively studied over a wide temperature range from which properties such as thermal conductivity was deciphered [23][27]. On the contrary, the temperature-dependent Raman analysis of WSe2 is rather

• analyzed as a function of P. Najmaei et al. [45] have analyzed the laser-induced thermal effects in 1L MoS2 and with increasing thickness approaching the bulk by means of Raman spectroscopy. Here, for the first time, we report on the variation of the and A1g modes for 1L, ML and bulk WSe2 crystallites as

Hexagonal boron nitride: a review of the emerging material platform for single-photon sources and the spin–photon interface

• Stefania Castelletto,
• Faraz A. Inam,
• Shin-ichiro Sato and
• Alberto Boretti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 740–769, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.61

• room temperature. Other materials currently may not exhibit room-temperature SP emission or there is no information about their potential paramagnetic defects that can be optically manipulated. MoS2 and h-BN are the most studied 2D platforms. MoS2 and h-BN have several nuclear spin atoms with large

Exfoliation in a low boiling point solvent and electrochemical applications of MoO₃

• Matangi Sricharan,
• Bikesh Gupta,
• Sreejesh Moolayadukkam and
• H. S. S. Ramakrishna Matte

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 662–670, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.52

• researchers to look into other layered materials, such as metal dichalcogenides (MoS2, WS2, WSe2), hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), layered double hydroxides, metal hydroxides (Ni(OH)2, Co(OH)2), metal oxides (MoO3, WO3) and phyllosilicates, for various applications in different fields [2][3][4][5]. Among the

Nanoarchitectonics: bottom-up creation of functional materials and systems

• Katsuhiko Ariga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 450–452, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.36

• TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles exhibit distinct and useful properties [35]. Other examples include a self-assembled MoS2-based composite that was developed for energy conversion and storage purposes [36], a silver-nanoparticle/cellulose-nanofiber composite that was applied for surface-enhanced Raman

DFT calculations of the structure and stability of copper clusters on MoS₂

• Cara-Lena Nies and
• Michael Nolan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 391–406, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.30

• Cara-Lena Nies Michael Nolan Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Lee Maltings, Dyke Parade, Cork, T12 R5CP, Ireland 10.3762/bjnano.11.30 Abstract Layered materials, such as MoS2, are being intensely studied due to their interesting properties and wide variety of potential

• structures and MoS2 monolayers is therefore of significant importance and first-principles simulations can probe aspects of this interaction not easily accessible to experiment. Previous theoretical studies have focused particularly on the adsorption of a range of metallic elements, including first-row

• density functional theory (DFT) study of the adsorption of small Cun (n = 1–4) structures on 2D MoS2 as a model system. We find on a perfect MoS2 monolayer that a single Cu atom prefers an adsorption site above the Mo atom. With increasing nanocluster size the nanocluster binds more strongly when Cu atoms

Design and facile synthesis of defect-rich C-MoS₂/rGO nanosheets for enhanced lithium–sulfur battery performance

• Chengxiang Tian,
• Juwei Wu,
• Zheng Ma,
• Bo Li,
• Pengcheng Li,
• Xiaotao Zu and
• Xia Xiang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2251–2260, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.217

• Chengxiang Tian Juwei Wu Zheng Ma Bo Li Pengcheng Li Xiaotao Zu Xia Xiang School of Physics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China 10.3762/bjnano.10.217 Abstract We report a simple one-step hydrothermal strategy for the fabrication of a C-MoS2/rGO

• composite with both large surface area and high porosity for the use as advanced electrode material in lithium–sulfur batteries. Double modified defect-rich MoS2 nanosheets are successfully prepared by introducing reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and amorphous carbon. The conductibility of the cathodes can be

• improved through the combination of amorphous carbon and rGO, which could also limit the dissolution of polysulfides. After annealing at different temperatures, it is found that the C-MoS2/rGO-6-S composite annealed at 600 °C yields a noticeably enhanced performance of lithium–sulfur batteries, with a high

Improved adsorption and degradation performance by S-doping of (001)-TiO₂

• Xiao-Yu Sun,
• Xian Zhang,
• Xiao Sun,
• Ni-Xian Qian,
• Min Wang and
• Yong-Qing Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2116–2127, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.206

• and B-doped (001)-TiO2 via a solvothermal method in order to improve the visible-light photocatalytic activity [15]. Cao et al. used first-principles simulations to study the electronic and optical properties of (001)-TiO2 and MoS2 composites. Their results suggested that the effective

• photosensitization of MoS2 and the stable interface between the two phases could promote the transfer of electrons from MoS2 to (001)-TiO2 and enhance its visible-light response [16]. It was also demonstrated that Au nanoparticles deposited on the surface of (001)-TiO2 particles could promote the separation of photo

First principles modeling of pure black phosphorus devices under pressure

• Ximing Rong,
• Zhizhou Yu,
• Zewen Wu,
• Junjun Li,
• Bin Wang and
• Yin Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1943–1951, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.190

• funnel effect in monolayer BP [13], which describes the possibility of controlling exciton motion by means of inhomogeneous strains. They found that the funnel effect in BP is much stronger than that in MoS2, and more important, shows opposite behavior to that in MoS2. Excitons in BP are mainly

• accumulated isotropically in strain-reduced regions, instead of occurring in the regions with a high tensile strain like in MoS2. Deniz et al. investigated the strain-related optical properties of monolayer BP using first principles calculations [7]. They found that the optical response of BP is sensitive to