Solid-phase reaction synthesis of mesostructured tungsten disulfide material with a high specific surface area

A mesostructured tungsten disulfide (WS2) material was prepared through a solid-phase reaction utilizing ammonium tetrathiotungstate as the precursor and n-octadecylamine as the template. The as-synthesized WS2 material was characterized by X-ray powder Diffraction (XRD), Low-temperature N2 Adsorption (BET method), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The characterization results indicate that the WS2 material has the typical mesopore structure (3.7 nm) with a high specific surface area (145.9 m2/g), and large pore volume (0.18 cm3/g). This approach is novel, green and convenient. The plausible mechanism for the formation of the mesostructured WS2 material is discussed herein.