Synthesis, Characterization, and Properties of Few-layer Metal Dichalcogenides and their Nanocomposites with Noble Metal Particles, Polyaniline, and Reduced Graphene Oxide

Few‐layer graphene‐like sheets of MoS2, WS2, MoSe2 and WSe2 were prepared by employing two methods. The first method uses microwave synthesis in ethylene glycol or water medium and the second method involves laser irradiation of the bulk samples dispersed in dimethylformamide. The few‐layer dichalcogenide samples were characterized by various microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. These graphene mimics show room‐temperature ferromagnetism and exchange bias besides magnetoresistance at room temperature. We have deposited nanoparticles of gold, silver, and platinum on few‐layer WS2 and characterized the nanocomposites. Nanocomposites of MoS2 with reduced graphene oxide show increase in resistivity with increasing amount of MoS2. The polyaniline MoS2 composite prepared by in situ polymerization of aniline in the presence of few‐layer MoS2 shows evidence of polaronic character.