WS2 nanobuds as a new hybrid nanomaterial

We report on the first inorganic nanobuds: WS2 nanotubes decorated with fullerene-like particles. They were synthesized by sulfurization of W5O14 nanowires. The fullerene-like particles nucleate in surface corrugations of the nanowires and grow by a diffusion process simultaneously with the transformation of nanowires into hollow multiwall nanotubes. Electron microscopy data are correlated with details of the transformation process revealing the possible mechanism of the formation of these new complex nanomaterials.