Dual Functionalization of Liquid-Exfoliated Semiconducting 2H-MoS2 with Lanthanide Complexes Bearing Magnetic and Luminescence Properties

Liquid exfoliated, atomically thin semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), as the inorganic equivalents of graphene, have attracted great interest due to their distinctive physical, optoelectronic, and chemical properties. Functionalization of 2D TMDs brings new prospects for applications in optoelectronics, quantum technologies, catalysis and medicine. In this report dual functionalization of two-dimensional semiconducting 2H-MoS2 nanosheets through simultaneous incorporation of magnetic and luminescent properties is demonstrated. We propose a facile method for tuning the properties of the TDM semiconductors and accessing multimodal platforms, consisting in covalent grafting of lanthanide complexes onto the surface of 2D TMDs.

We demonstrate dual functionalization of liquid-exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets simultaneously with both europium (III) and gadolinium (III) complexes to form a colloidally stable luminescent (with ms lifetimes) and paramagnetic MoS2-based nanohybrid material. This work is the first example of transition metal dichalcogenide nanosheets functionalized with pre-formed lanthanide complexes. These findings open new prospects for covalent functionalization of TMDs with molecular species bearing specific functionalities as a means to tune the optoelectronic properties of the semiconductors, in order to create advanced materials and devices with a wide-range of functionalities.