Growing nanosheets off nanowires

Nanomaterials Junctions between different nanomaterials sometimes display unusual properties that can have applications in optoelectronics and catalysis. Chen et al. used copper sulfide (Cu2−×S) nanowires as templates for growing molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) and selenide (MoSe2) nanosheets, which form at right angles to the nanowire axis. Transmission electron microscopy revealed an epitaxial nanowire/nanosheet interface. After ion exchange with cadmium (Cd2+), the resulting CdS-MoS2 heterostructures were much more active than CdS for the hydrogen evolution reaction with visible light, because MoS2 helped slow electron-hole recombination. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 10.1021/jacs.7b03752 (2017).