Synthesis and Photoluminescence Properties of MoS2/Graphene Heterostructure by Liquid-Phase Exfoliation

Durai Murugan Kandhasamy; Paulpandian Muthu Mareeswaran; Selvaraju Chellappan; Dhenadhayalan Namasivayam; Afaf Aldahish; Kumarappan Chidambaram

doi:10.1021/acsomega.1c05250

Synthesis and Photoluminescence Properties of MoS₂/Graphene Heterostructure by Liquid-Phase Exfoliation

ACS Omega. 2021 Dec 31;7(1):629-637. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.1c05250. eCollection 2022 Jan 11.

Authors

Durai Murugan Kandhasamy¹, Paulpandian Muthu Mareeswaran², Selvaraju Chellappan³, Dhenadhayalan Namasivayam⁴, Afaf Aldahish⁵, Kumarappan Chidambaram⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioelectronics and Biosensors, Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630003, Tamil Nadu, India.
² Department of Industrial Chemistry, Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630003, Tamil Nadu, India.
³ National Centre for Ultrafast Processes, University of Madras, Taramani Campus, Chennai 600113, India.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, National Taiwan University and Institute of Atomic and Molecular Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, King Khalid University, Abha 62529, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Here, we report the synthesis of MoS₂/graphene heterostructure in single-stage, liquid-phase exfoliation using a 7:3 isopropyl alcohol/water mixture. Further, the synthesized heterostructure was characterized using UV-visible and micro-Raman spectroscopies, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis. UV-visible and micro-Raman analyses confirmed that the synthesized heterostructure had mostly few-layered (two-to-four sheets) MoS₂. The photophysical properties of the heterostructure were analyzed using steady-state and time-resolved luminescence techniques. Enhanced photoluminescence was observed in the case of the heterostructure probably due to an increase in the defect sites or reduction in the rate of nonradiative decay upon formation of the sandwiched heterostructure. Applications of this heterostructure for fluorescence live-cell imaging were carried out, and the heterostructure demonstrated a better luminescence contrast compared to its individual counterpart MoS₂ in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS).