Exfoliation in a low boiling point solvent and electrochemical applications of MoO.

MoO is a versatile two-dimensional transition metal oxide having applications in areas such as energy storage devices, electronic devices and catalysis. To efficiently utilize the properties of MoO arising from its two-dimensional nature exfoliation is necessary. In this work, the exfoliation of MoO is carried out in 2-butanone for the first time. The achieved concentration of the dispersion is about 0.57 mg·mL with a yield of 5.7%, which are the highest values reported to date. These high values of concentration and yield can be attributed to a favorable matching of energies involved in exfoliation and stabilization of MoO nanosheets in 2-butanone. Interestingly, the MoO dispersion in 2-butanone retains its intrinsic nature even after exposure to sunlight for 24 h. The composites of MoO nanosheets were used as an electrode material for supercapacitors and showed a high specific capacitance of 201 F·g in a three-electrode configuration at a scan rate of 50 mV·s.