Plasma Processing and Treatment of 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides: Tuning Properties and Defect Engineering.

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) offer fascinating opportunities for fundamental nanoscale science and various technological applications. They are a promising platform for next generation optoelectronics and energy harvesting devices due to their exceptional characteristics at the nanoscale, such as tunable bandgap and strong light-matter interactions. The performance of TMD-based devices is mainly governed by the structure, composition, size, defects, and the state of their interfaces. Many properties of TMDs are influenced by the method of synthesis so numerous studies have focused on processing high-quality TMDs with controlled physicochemical properties. Plasma-based methods are cost-effective, well controllable, and scalable techniques that have recently attracted researchers' interest in the synthesis and modification of 2D TMDs. TMDs' reactivity toward plasma offers numerous opportunities to modify the surface of TMDs, including functionalization, defect engineering, doping, oxidation, phase engineering, etching, healing, morphological changes, and altering the surface energy. Here we comprehensively review all roles of plasma in the realm of TMDs. The fundamental science behind plasma processing and modification of TMDs and their applications in different fields are presented and discussed. Future perspectives and challenges are highlighted to demonstrate the prominence of TMDs and the importance of surface engineering in next-generation optoelectronic applications.

MoS2 oxidative etching caught in the act: formation of single (MoO3) n molecules.

We report the presence of sub-nm MoO x clusters formed on basal planes of the 2H MoS2 crystals during thermal oxidative etching in air at a temperature of 370 °C. Using high resolution non-contact atomic force microscopy (AFM) we provide a histogram of their preferred heights. The AFM results combined with density functional theory (DFT) simulations show remarkably well that the MoO x clusters are predominantly single MoO3 molecules and their dimers at the sulfur vacancies. Additional Raman spectroscopy, and energy and wavelength dispersive X-ray spectroscopies as well as Kelvin probe AFM investigations confirmed the presence of the MoO3/MoO x species covering the MoS2 surface only sparsely. The X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy data confirm the MoO3 stoichiometry. Taken together, our results show that oxidative etching and removal of Mo atoms at the atomic level follow predominantly via formation of single MoO3 molecules. Such findings confirm the previously only proposed oxidative etching stoichiometry.

Electrical and Heat Distributions and Their Influence on the Mass Transfer during the Flash Spark Plasma Sintering of a Cu/Cr Nanocomposite: Experiments and Numerical Simulation.

The nanocomposite Cu-Cr powder was consolidated by flash spark plasma sintering (FSPS), which involves applying an extremely rapid change in the electrical power passing through the bulk of the sample. It was demonstrated that an essentially fully dense material could be obtained in 15 s. Such short-term treatment typically preserves the nanostructured features of the material. However, investigation revealed a nonuniformity in the microstructure of the alloys obtained under such extreme conditions. To better understand the observed effects, the FSPS process was simulated. It was observed that a rapid change in the applied electrical power resulted in nonuniform distributions of current density and temperature along the body of the consolidated material. Specifically, the current density was higher on the periphery of the sample, and the temperature was higher in the middle. These findings explain the observed structural transformation during FSPS and suggest an optimization strategy to avoid microstructural nonuniformity.

Physicomechanical properties of spark plasma sintered carbon nanotube-containing ceramic matrix nanocomposites.

Recently, a wide variety of research works have focused on carbon nanotube (CNT)-ceramic matrix nanocomposites. In many cases, these novel materials are produced through conventional powder metallurgy methods including hot pressing, conventional sintering, and hot isostatic pressing. However, spark plasma sintering (SPS) as a novel and efficient consolidation technique is exploited for the full densification of high-temperature ceramic systems. In these binary nanocomposites, CNTs are added to ceramic matrices to noticeably modify their inferior properties and SPS is employed to produce fully dense compacts. In this review, a broad overview of these systems is provided and the potential influences of CNTs on their functional and structural properties are addressed. The technical challenges are then mentioned and the ongoing debates over overcoming these drawbacks are fully highlighted. The structural classification used is material-oriented. It helps the readers to easily find the material systems of interest. The SPSed CNT-containing ceramic matrix nanocomposites are generally categorized into four main classes: CNT-oxide systems; CNT-nitride systems, CNT-carbide systems, and CNT-boride systems. A large number of original curves and bubble maps are provided to fully summarize the experimental results reported in the literature. They pave the way for obviously selecting the ceramic systems required for each industrial application. The properties in consideration include the relative density, hardness, yield strength, fracture toughness, electrical and thermal conductivities, modulus, and flexural strength. These unique graphs facilitate the comparison between reported results and help the reader to easily distinguish the best method for producing the ceramic systems of interest and the optimal conditions under which the superior properties can be reached. The authors have concentrated on the microstructure evolution-physicomechanical property relationship and tried to relate each property to pertinent microstructural phenomena and address why the properties are degraded or enhanced with the variation of SPS conditions or material parameters.