Facile synthesis, characterization and gas sensing performance of ZnO nanoparticles-coated MoS2 nanosheets

More and more researchers are paying attention to the two-dimensional layered MoS2 which has a similar structure to graphene and its composite materials. The ZnO nanoparticles-coated MoS2 nanosheets were successfully fabricated by two step hydrothermal method. The morphology and microstructure were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results show that the ZnO-coated MoS2 nanosheets are about 500 nm in diameter, which is constructed by relatively densely packed nanosheets with the thickness of around 5-10 nm. The scale of ZnO nanoparticles are about 8 nm. Furthermore, owing to the supporting substrate of specific two-dimensional MoS2 nanosheets, the sensor based on ZnO nanoparticles-coated MoS2 nanosheets exhibit superior gas sensing performance towards ethanol and it maybe have potential applications in the detection of ethanol vapors.