One-pot hydrothermal film deposition and characterization of 1T-MoS₂ nanowires for photodetection

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides are of great interest due to their extraordinary electrical and optical characteristics for possible optoelectronic applications like photodetectors. In the current work, MoS₂ film has been deposited by a simple and economical hydrothermal route in an alkaline solution in one pot. Raman and X-ray diffraction analyses verified the growth of the dominant 1T-phase, which provides more active sites on the film. Electron microscope images exhibit the formation of long MoS₂ nanowires on top of skein-like microspheres. Each microsphere is composed of curly nanosheets. A growth mechanism is suggested for the formation of the achieved morphology. The energy bandgap of the film was calculated to be around 1.72 eV, using the optical absorbance spectrum. The photosensitivity tests showed a 26% response of the fabricated photosensor toward incident light (450 nm) and confirmed that the as-grown MoS₂ has high response stability. The recorded response time of 187 s and the recovery time of 210 s showed that the sample responds quickly to incident light. The obtained results showed the effect of the 1T-MoS₂ phase and nanowire structure on improving the performance of photodetectors and presented a simple method for the synthesis of MoS₂ films with nanowire morphology.