MoS₂–Carbon Nanotube Hybrid Material Growth and Gas Sensing

Abstract

Abstract Hexagonal‐shaped nanoplates (HNPs) of MoS 2 on vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) over a patterned area (a circular area of 1 cm 2 diameter) are produced by chemical vapor deposition technique. With an optimized initial Mo film thickness, a uniform coverage of MoS 2 HNPs with a thickness around 20 nm is achieved. The results confirm that the CNT template plays an important role in the MoS 2 HNPs growth. Each MoS 2 HNP consists of abundant exposed edges, interesting for sensing and catalysis applications. High crystallinity and quality of the as‐produced material are revealed by X‐ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopies. Furthermore, NO 2 gas‐sensing studies show better sensitivity and recovery for MoS 2 /CNT samples as compared to pristine CNTs. The detection of NO 2 gas in a few tens of parts per million to a few hundreds of parts per billion range, at room temperature, is achieved. Density‐functional theory calculation indicates that the exposed edges of MoS 2 play a significant role in the NO 2 sensing as compared to horizontally aligned MoS 2 layers. The present report can promote the research toward the fabrication of efficient and reliable MoS 2 ‐based hybrid materials for toxic gas‐sensing applications for air quality monitoring in various environments.