Precursor determined lateral size control of monolayer MoS2 nanosheets from a series of alkylammonium thiomolybdates: a reversal of trend between growth media.

The growth of ligand-free MoS2 nanosheets with mean lateral sizes below 5 nm at 270 °C is reported. Nanosheets grown from a melt of tetraalkylammonium tetrathiomolybdates, [R4N]2[MoS4] (R = n-butyl, n-hexyl or n-octyl) vary in width between mean lateral sizes of 4.35 and 2.1 nm. Inclusion of the precursors into a polymer matrix shows the opposite trend in lateral dimensions with sheet widths ranging from 3.5 to 4.8 nm.