Covalent Decoration of MoS₂ Platforms by Silver Nanoparticles through the Reversible Addition-Fragmentation Chain...

Two-dimensional nanomaterials decorated by metal nanoparticles have gained great interest, due to their potential applications in different areas ranging from electrochemical sensing to photothermal therapy. However, metal nanoparticles that are noncovalently immobilized on the surface of two-dimensional nanomaterials can be dissociated from their surface in the complex mediums. This challenge can be overcome by covalent attachment of nanoparticles to the surface of these platforms. In this work, MoS₂ sheets are decorated by silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) through a reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) reaction. Reactive centers were created on the surface of freshly exfoliated MoS₂ and a two-dimensional platform with the ability of initiating the RAFT reaction was obtained. Afterwards, silver nanoparticles with acrylamide functionality were synthesized and attached on the surface of MoS₂ sheets by the RAFT reaction. MoS₂-AgNPs hybrids were characterized by different spectroscopy and microscopy methods as well as thermal and elemental analyses, and then they were used for the electrochemical determination of dipyridamole in aqueous solution. Taking advantage of the straightforward synthesis and the possible MoS₂-AgNPs distance adjustment, a variety of hybrid systems with unique physicochemical and optoelectronic properties can be constructed by using this method.