Niobium Disulfide (NbS2) Powder and Crystal

Niobium disulfide (NbS₂), CAS number 12034-77-4, is a member of group-V transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC). Depending the process of exfoliation and film thickness, NbS₂ could have three stacking polytypes: 1T (trigonal), 2H (hexagonal), and 3R (rhombohedral) phases. 2H-NbS₂ has a sandwiched layer structure, with niobium sitting in the centre half of two sulfur trigonal prismatic sites. Layers are bound by weak van de Waals forces which allows mechanical or liquid chemical exfoliation to obtain layered structures, i.e. nanoparticles or nanosheets with lower dimensions.

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≥99.999% Niobium Disulfide Crystal

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Powder & Crystal

Different Forms of Niobium Disulfide

2H-NbS₂ is metallic in nature with its resistance drop gradually with temperature. Clear superconducting transition is observed when the temperature moves down to 6 K. 2D NbS₂ nanosheets possesses a huge number of active edge sites that allows for the application of gas sensing, chemical detection, catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), saturable absorber, electrodes and energy storage devices.

We supply low price niobium disulfide in several different forms for a range of applications.

Niobium Disulfide Powder

Can be used for preparation of niobium disulfide nanoplates and ultrathin films

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≥99.995% purity

From £220

Niobium Disulfide Crystals by Size

Can be used to produce single or few-layer niobium disulfide sheets via mechanical or liquid exfoliation

Small (≥10 mm²) or medium (≥25 mm²) crystals available*

≥99.999% purity

From £520

*Typical representative size, areas/dimensions may vary

Bulk single niobium disulfide crystals are most commonly used as sources from which single or few-layer sheets can be obtained via either mechanical or liquid exfoliation. Single niobium disulfide crystal or films produced from such crystals are suitable for study using atomic force microscopy or transmission electron microscopy.

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Niobium disulfide powder can also be used to prepare NbS₂ nanosheets and nanoparticles by liquid-exfoliation (normally assisted by sonication), especially when it is the case of foreign elements such as hydrated sodium cations being inserted between layers by the process of intercalation to form [Na_x(H₂O)_yNbS₂] complex for application in solid-state batteries. Liquid exfoliation can provide mass production of such products.

Key Product Data

• High purity, low price niobium disulfide
• Available as a powder or as individual crystals
• Can be used to produce single or few-layer sheets
• Free worldwide shipping on qualifying orders

Structure of Niobium Disulfide

NbS₂ exhibits three stacking polytypes: 1T, 2H, and 3R phases.

The thermodynamically unfavoured 1T phase (space group: 𝑃3̅𝑚1) has one layer with a trigonal unit cell and has only been spotted in monolayer thin films, while the 2H (space group: P63/mmc) and 3R phases (space group: R3m) have two and three layers with hexagonal and rhombohedral unit cells, respectively. 2H and 3R phases have been found in multilayer films or bulk crystal and powder forms. The main difference between 2H and 3R are their stacking sequences: rotation but no in-plane translation in the 2H phase and in-plane translation but no rotation in the 3R phase. 

In its 2H metallic phase, Nb atoms are surrounded by S atoms following a trigonal prismatic coordination with Nb being located in the centre of the trigonal prismatic sites. The S-Nb-S layers that make up each packet are covalently bound. The coupling between pairs of packets is bound by van der Waals forces.

Properties of 2D Niobium Disulfide

After exfoliation of crystals or powder, niobium disulfide typically has the following properties:

• ‎NbS₂ (2H and 3R) is a metal, 2H-NbS2 polytype is known to be superconducting with a critical temperature of Tc ≈ 6 K.
• Thermodynamically unfavoured 1T- NbS₂ only exists in its monolayer films.
• Usually NbS₂ is considered as the archetypal compound that does not have a CDW in any of its polytypes.

Applications of Niobium Disulfide

Niobium disulfide single crystals can be used to prepare monolayer and few-layer NbS₂ by mechanical or liquid exfoliation, while niobium disulfide powder is suitable for liquid chemical exfoliation to prepare NbS₂ nanosheets and nanoparticles down to few-layer films. 

The preferable flexibility of 2H-NbS₂ and its metallic nature with excellent electric conductivity make 2H-NbS₂ a good candidate for energy storage applications. With active edge sites in carefully controlled exfoliation process, 2D NbS₂ nanosheets play a key role in chemical detection and as chemical and gas sensors. 2D NbS₂ has also been applied as hydrogen revolution reaction (HER) catalysts.

Niobium disulfide single crystal can be used to prepare monolayer and few-layer NbS₂ by mechanical or liquid exfoliation. Niobium Disulfide powder is suitable for liquid chemical exfoliation to prepare NbS₂ nanosheets and nanoparticles down to few-layer films. 2D NbS₂ nanosheets (NSs) in 1T, 2H and 3R phases can be successfully produced via an liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) of either niobium disulfide single crystal or bulk powder using isopropanol (IPA) as the processing solvent. 

2H-NbS₂ is metallic in nature and can be used as catalyst in hydrogen revolution reactions (HER) with ultrahigh current density. 2H-NbS₂ as metallic layered material has large anisotropic electrical, optical, magnetic and superconducting (the transition temperature up to 6.3 K) properties. It has been engaged as cathode material in lithium batteries, catalyst for petroleum purification, in humidity sensors and in charge density wave (CDW) studies. 2D NbS₂ possesses a huge number of active edge sites which play a key role in chemical detection.

Literature and Reviews

• Ultrahigh-current-density niobium disulfide catalysts for hydrogen evolution, J. Yang et al., Nat. Mater., 18, pages 1309–1314 (2019); DOI: 10.1038/s41563-019-0463-8.
• Quantum Enhancement of Charge Density Wave in NbS2 in the Two-Dimensional Limit, R. Bianco et al., Nano Lett., 19, 5, 3098–3103 (2019); DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.9b00504.
• 2H-NbS2 flm as a novel counter electrode for meso-structured perovskite solar cells, F. Shao et al., Sci. Reports, 8, 7033 (2018); DOI:10.1038/s41598-018-25449-x.
• Optical Properties of 2D 3R Phase Niobium Disulfide and Its Applications as a Saturable Absorber, X. Sun et al., Adv. Optical Mater., 8, 1901181 (2020); DOI: 10.1002/adom.201901181.
• Two-Dimensional NbS2 Gas Sensors for Selective and Reversible NO2 Detection at Room Temperature, Y. Kim et al., ACS Sens., 4, 9, 2395–2402 (2019); DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.9b00992.
• Facile synthesis of electrocatalytically active NbS2 nanoflakes for an enhanced hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), D. Gopalakrishnan et al., Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2, 96-102 (2018); DOI: 10.1039/c7se00376e.
• Colloidal Synthesis of NbS2 Nanosheets: From Large-Area Ultrathin Nanosheets to Hierarchical Structures, W. Li et al., Front. Chem., 8, 189 (2020); DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2020.00189.
• Large-size niobium disulfide nanoflakes down to bilayers grown by sulfurization, Z. Li et al., Nano Res., 11(11), 5978–5988 (2018); DOI: 10.1007/s12274-018-2111-z..