Hydrothermal synthesis and controlled growth of tungsten disulphide nanostructures from one-dimension to three-dimensions

Three kinds of tungsten disulphide (WS₂) such as nanospheres, nanowires and nanobelts have been synthesised using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a surfactant. The structural features of the as-prepared WS₂ were characterised by X-ray powder diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The CTAB surfactants played a critical role in producing different WS₂ nanostructures. The growth mechanism of WS₂ nanostructures is proposed in detail and the schematic representation of the formation mechanism is also shown. Also, the optical absorption property of the WS₂ nanostructures was investigated. This reported work may be helpful to investigate structurally other metal chalcogenide materials with different morphologies.