Rapid and mass-producible synthesis of high-crystallinity MoSe2 nanosheets by ampoule-loaded chemical vapor deposition

Abstract

MoSe₂ is an attractive transition-metal dichalcogenide with a two-dimensional layered structure and various attractive properties. Although MoSe₂ is a promising negative electrode material for electrochemical applications, further investigation of MoSe₂ has been limited, mainly by the lack of MoSe₂ mass-production methods. Here, we report a rapid and ultra-high-yield synthesis method of obtaining MoSe₂ nanosheets with high crystallinity and large grains by ampoule-loaded chemical vapor deposition. Application of high pressure to an ampoule-type quartz tube containing MoO₃ and Se powders initiated rapid reactions that produced vertically oriented MoSe₂ nanosheets with grain sizes of up to ∼100 μm and yields of ∼15 mg h⁻¹. Spectroscopy and microscopy characterizations confirmed the high crystallinity of the obtained MoSe₂ nanosheets. Transistors and lithium-ion battery cells fabricated with the synthesized MoSe₂ nanosheets showed good performance, thereby further indicating their high quality. The proposed simple scalable synthesis method can pave the way for diverse electrical and electrochemical applications of MoSe₂.