Novel structure and excellent nonlinear optical performance nanocomposite derived from flower-like MOF grown on MoS2

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a nonlinear optical material with graphene-like structure. In order to further improve the nonlinear optical performance of MoS2 and expand the application fields of MoS2, we report a simple in-situ self-growth method to functionalize MoS2 nanosheets with metal-organic framework (MOF) for the first time to pursuit excellent reverse saturable absorption performance and optical limiting performance. Firstly, defective MoS2 nanosheets was obtained by chemical etching with H2O2 and cysteamine was inserted into the sulfur vacancies under ultrasound to obtain MoS2–NH2. Then 5,10,15,20-Tetra(4-carbomethoxyphenyl) porphyrin (TCPP) as MOF active growth sites were grafted on MoS2–NH2 by amido linkage to obtain MoS2-TCPP in mild conditions. Finally, flower-like porphyrin-based CuMOF was grown on MoS2-TCPP by solvothermal method to obtain MoS2-CuMOF with stable structure. The third order nonlinear optical performance of MoS2-CuMOF were studied by Z-scan technique. It was found that the third order nonlinear absorption coefficient of MoS2-CuMOF was significantly improved compared with MoS2. Under the same energy of laser irradiation, the third order nonlinear absorption coefficient of MoS2-CuMOF nanocomposite in solution was 6 × 10−10 m/W about 2.3 times of the pristine MoS2 (2.6 × 10−10 m/W). After blending the above materials with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) to prepare a solid device, the third order nonlinear absorption coefficient of MoS2-CuMOF/PMMA was 18 × 10−10 m/W about 3.6 times of the MoS2/PMMA (5 × 10−10 m/W). And MoS2-CuMOF/PMMA had better optical limiting ability than MoS2/PMMA. The significant improvement in the performance of the composites can be attributed to the energy transfer between MoS2 and CuMOF, and porphyrin aggregation was inhibited by PMMA after the preparation of devices. Energy transfer can be proved by fluorescence spectroscopy. This work not only provided an example for the covalent functionalization of MoS2, but also offered a new method for designing materials with excellent nonlinear optical performance.