Hydrothermal green synthesis of MoS(2) nanosheets for pollution abatement and antifungal applications

In this study, we report a green synthesis of MoS(2) nanosheets (NSs) using a facile hydrothermal technique in the presence of l-cysteine. l-Cysteine can serve as a greener source of sulfur as well as a capping agent to help the growth of MoS(2) nanosheets. The prepared materials were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), electron transmission microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS), and Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) analysis. The results showed that MoS(2) NSs are of high crystallinity with a lattice spacing of 0.61 nm. The optical bandgap of MoS(2) NSs nanosheets prepared using l-cysteine as a source of sulfur was found to be 1.79 eV. The photocatalytic degradation of MoS(2) NSs towards methylene orange (MO) and rhodamine blue (RB) dyes under sunlight was found to be promising for practical applications. The fast kinetics of degradation of MO and RhB was observed over a wide range of pH range. Moreover, MoS(2) NSs showed excellent antifungal activities against Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Penicillium chrysogenum fungus.