Side-Chain-Directed Dispersion of MoS2 Nanosheets by V-Shaped Polyaromatic Compounds.

Bulk molybdenum disulfide (MoS2 ) itself is virtually insoluble in common organic solvents because of the tight stacks of multiple MoS2 nanosheets. Here we report that V-shaped polyaromatic compounds with non-ionic side chains can efficiently exfoliate and disperse the inorganic nanosheets. Simple grinding and sonication (less than total 1 h) of MoS2 powder with the V-shaped compounds gave rise to large MoS2 nanosheets highly dispersed in NMP through efficient host-guest S-π interactions. DLS and AFM analyses revealed that the lateral sizes (ca. 150-270 nm) and thicknesses (ca. 2-8 nm) of the products depend on the identity of the non-ionic side chains on the V-shaped dispersant.