Solid-state chemistry on a surface and in a beaker: Unconventional routes to transition metal chalcogenide nanomaterials

This article focuses on two different approaches to create nanoscale transition metal chalcogenide materials. First, we used chemical nanofabrication, a combination of top-down patterning and bottom-up solid-state synthesis, to achieve control over the shape, size, and ordering of the patterned nanomaterials. We demonstrated orientational control over nanocrystals within sub-300 nm patterns of MoS₂ and formed free-standing nanostructures of crystalline NiS₂. In addition, crossed line arrays of mixed metal chalcogenide nanostructures were achieved, and TaS₂ nanopatterns were made by the chemical transformation of tantalum oxide templates. Second, we developed a one-pot procedure using molecular precursors to synthesize two-dimensional NbSe₂, TaS₂ and TaSe₂ nanoplates and one-dimensional NbSe₂ wires depending on the relative amount of surfactants in the reaction mixture. Prospects for these transition metal chalcogenide nanomaterials with controlled shapes and morphologies will be discussed.