Fast preparation of ultrafine monolayered transition-metal dichalcogenide quantum dots using electrochemical shock for explosive detection

Abstract

A simple, general and fast method called “electrochemical shock” is developed to prepare monolayered transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) QDs with an average size of 2–4 nm and an average thickness of 0.85 ± 0.5 nm with only about 10 min of ultrasonication. Just like nails hammered into a plate, the electrochemical shock with Al³⁺ ions and the following extraction with the help of oleic acid can disintegrate bulk TMD crystals into ultrafine TMD QDs. The fast-prepared QDs are then applied to detect highly explosive molecules such as 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) with a low detection limit of 10⁻⁶ M. Our versatile method could be broadly applicable for the fast production of ultrathin QDs of other materials with great promise for various applications.