Decoupling reduction–sulfurization synthesis of inorganic fullerene-like WS2 nanoparticles in a particulately fluidized bed

•Decoupling reduction–sulfurization process for synthesis of WS2 was proposed.•Diffusion and reaction play important roles in controlling the structure of WS2.•A growth mechanism of WS2 nanoparticles was proposed.•The porous β-W and their particulate fluidization enhance the diffusion of H2S.•Perfect IF-WS2 were obtained from porous β-W.

A novel decoupling reduction–sulfurization process for the synthesis of inorganic fullerene-like (IF) WS2 nanoparticles has been developed in this work. In this strategy, the raw WO3 nanoparticles are firstly reduced by hydrogen in a fluidized bed, followed by sulfurization with H2S in a reducing atmosphere. The diffusion and reaction are the two kinetic factors playing important roles in controlling the structure of WS2. Under diffusion limitation, the porous β-W phase and inordinate WS2 structure are formed, while the α-W phase and IF-WS2 structure are usually obtained in the reaction-limited condition. The particulate fluidization of the reduced WO3 nanoparticles in the agglomerates forms is realized in this decoupling reduction–sulfurization process. The porous β-W nanoparticles and their particulate fluidization enhance the diffusion of H2S, resulting in the completion of sulfurization reaction in short time. This newly developed approach is efficient and cost-effective, and might be extended to the large-scale synthesis of other inorganic fullerene-like metal sulfides.

Graphical abstractA growth model of the IF-WS2 phase from WO3 nanoparticles by the decoupling reduction-sulfurization method. Both diffusion and reaction are the two kinetic factors playing important roles in controlling the structure of WS2.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide