Influence of curvature strain and Van der Waals force on the inter-layer vibration mode of WS(2) nanotubes: A confocal micro-Raman spectroscopic study

Transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) nanostructures including nanotubes and monolayers have attracted great interests in materials science, chemistry to condensed matter physics. We present an interesting study of the vibration modes in multi-walled tungsten sulfide (WS(2)) nanotubes prepared via sulfurizing tungsten oxide (WO(3)) nanowires which are investigated by confocal micro-Raman spectroscopy. The inter-layer vibration mode of WS(2) nanotubes, A(1g), is found to be sensitive to the diameter and curvature strain, while the in-plane vibration mode, E(1)(2g), is not. A(1g) mode frequency shows a redshift by 2.5 cm(−1) for the multi-layered nanotubes with small outer-diameters, which is an outcome of the competition between the Van der Waals force stiffening and the curvature strain softening. We also show that the Raman peak intensity ratio is significantly different between the 1–2 wall layered nanotubes and monolayer flat sheets.