The Effect of Nickel on MoS Growth Revealed with in Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy.

MoS has important applications in (electro)catalysis and as a semiconductor for electronic devices. Other chemical species are commonly added to MoS to increase catalytic activity or to alter electronic properties through substitutional or adsorption-based doping. While groundbreaking work has been devoted to determining the atomic-scale structure of MoS and other layered transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), there is a lack of understanding of the dynamic processes that govern the evolution of these materials during synthesis.

Seeded Nanowire and Microwire Growth from Lithium Alloys.

Although vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth of nanowires from alloy seed particles is common in various semiconductor systems, related wire growth in all-metal systems is rare. Here, we report the spontaneous growth of nano- and microwires from metal seed particles during the cooling of Li-rich bulk alloys containing Au, Ag, or In. The as-grown wires feature Au-, Ag-, or In-rich metal tips and LiOH shafts; the results indicate that the wires grow as Li metal and are converted to polycrystalline LiOH during and/or after growth due to exposure to HO and O.

In Situ XPS Investigation of Transformations at Crystallographically Oriented MoS Interfaces.

Nanoscale transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) materials, such as MoS, exhibit promising behavior in next-generation electronics and energy-storage devices. TMDCs have a highly anisotropic crystal structure, with edge sites and basal planes exhibiting different structural, chemical, and electronic properties. In virtually all applications, two-dimensional or bulk TMDCs must be interfaced with other materials (such as electrical contacts in a transistor).