Liquid-phase co-exfoliated graphene/MoS₂ nanocomposite for methanol gas sensing

We developed an efficient method to co-exfoliate graphite and MoS₂ to fabricate graphene/MoS₂ nanocomposite. The size, morphology, and crystal structure of the graphene/MoS₂ nanocomposite were carefully examined. The as-prepared graphene/MoS₂ nanocomposite was fabricated into thin film sensor by a facile drop casting method and tested with methanol gas in various concentrations. The sensitivity, response time, and repeatability of the graphene/MoS₂ nanocomposite sensor towards methanol gas were systematically investigated. A pure MoS^-₂ based thin film sensor was also prepared and compared with the nanocomposite sensor to better understand the synergetic effect in the sensing performance. Our research demonstrated that compositing MoS₂ with graphene could overcome the shortcoming of MoS₂ as a sensor material and bring in a promising gas-sensing performance with a quicker response/recovery time and an enhanced sensitivity. Moreover, this composited material with a distinct structure and an excellent electronic property is expected to have potential application in various fields, such as optoelectronic.