Large scale synthesis of MoSe2 nanoflowers: Effect of reaction parameters

Rapid synthesis of MoSe 2 nano-flowers is carried out by thermal method employing pre-dissolved Se in 1-octadecene and sodium or ammonium molybdate as precursors with surfactants such as oleic acid and/or oleylamine. As-synthesized samples were analysed by XRD, FE-SEM/EDAX, HRTEM, AFM, XPS, DSC, PL and Raman spectroscopy etc. The broad XRD pattern indicated cluster diameter to be in nano-meter regime. The HRTEM confirmed flower shape morphology composed of ultrathin sheets. AFM revealed layered structure stacked with more than 10 layers. The high-resolution Mo(3d) XPS spectra showed two peaks for 3d 5/2 and 3d 3/2 spins of Mo with binding energy values of 228.3 eV and 231.4 eV. The synthesized MoSe 2 showed mild photo-catalytic activity against MB dye. However, the sintering of MoSe 2 led to formation of MoO 3 nano-particles which showed excellent photocatalytic performance yielding more than 90 % MB dye degradation.