Intercalated MoS2 Nanoparticles for Enhanced Dispersion in Smokes and Obscurants

Abstract

The intercalation of MoS2 with diethyl oxalate (DEO) and Meldrum's Acid (MA) has been achieved via an exfoliation and reflocculation process. Ethyl diazoacetate (EDA) did not intercalate under identical conditions. The resulting compounds, Li0.1MoS2(DEO)0.10 and Li0.1MoS2(MA)0.14, have the metastable 1T-MoS2 crystal structure and have been characterized by XRD, TGA, NMR, and DSC. Based on XRD analysis, the intercalated compounds are trigonal with P3 crystal symmetry where a = b = 3.36 Å and c, which varies with the intercalate, is 10.20 Å and 9.97 Å for Li0.1MoS2(DEO)0.10 and Li0.1MoS2(MA)0.14, respectively. The concentration of the DEO and MA in the intercalated compounds, 0.10 and 0.14, respectively, was calculated using air TGA data and supported by nitrogen TGA data and NMR. The structural models of the new compounds are described within.