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Long-term stability of mechanically exfoliated MoS2 flakes

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Abstract

The long-term stability of mechanically exfoliated MoS2 flakes was compared for storage in the air and storage under vacuum. Significant changes in MoS2 flakes were observed for samples stored in the air, whereas similar flakes on samples stored in vacuum underwent no change. Small speckles were observed to appear on the surface of flakes stored in the air, followed by thinning and eventual decomposition of MoS2 flakes. The speckles are suspected to be formed by oxidation of MoS2 in the presence of atmospheric oxygen and water molecules, resulting in the formation of hydrated MoO3.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge financial funding from the US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership Programme (project USI 057). Stephen McFarland, unit manager for electron microscopy unit at School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University, Belfast is acknowledged for carrying out EDX analysis of MoS2flakes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Queen’s University, Belfast, BT9 5AH, U.K.

    Prachi Budania, Paul Baine, John Montgomery, David McNeill & Neil Mitchell

  2. School of Physical Sciences, Dublin City University, Glasnevin, Dublin, D09 NR58, Ireland

    Conor McGeough, Tony Cafolla & Greg Hughes

  3. Tyndall National Institute, University College Cork, Cork, T12 R5CP, Ireland

    Mircea Modreanu & Paul Hurley

Authors
  1. Prachi Budania
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  2. Paul Baine
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  3. John Montgomery
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  4. Conor McGeough
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  5. Tony Cafolla
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  6. Mircea Modreanu
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  7. David McNeill
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  8. Neil Mitchell
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  9. Greg Hughes
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  10. Paul Hurley
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Correspondence to Prachi Budania.

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The supplementary material for this article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2017.105

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Budania, P., Baine, P., Montgomery, J. et al. Long-term stability of mechanically exfoliated MoS2 flakes. MRS Communications 7, 813–818 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2017.105

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2017.105

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