Chemical vapor deposition growth of large-area molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) dendrites

Abstract

Molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) has emerged as a popular transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) in the recent decade because of its potential applications in electronic devices, optoelectronics, and fuel cells. Specifically, dendritic MoS2 has been shown to efficiently catalyse various hydrogen evolution reactions. We report the growth of dendritic MoS2 flakes on SiO2/Si wafers using a sophisticated atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) system. High-resolution optical microscopy reveals a morphology comprising different star-shaped dendrites, in addition to large MoS2 domains, which merge to form a continuous film. Our observations reveal that the dendrites originate from the nucleation centre of a monolayer MoS2 island, and their branches develop preferentially along the grain boundaries of this island. Raman spectroscopy, Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were carried out to characterize the as-grown MoS2 dendrites and further confirm these observations.