Simultaneous exfoliation and functionalization of MoS2 with tetrapyridyl porphyrin†

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) attracts the attention of the scientific community due to its thickness dependent properties. To fully exploit these features, it is necessary to produce the material in mono or few-layers on a large scale. Several methodologies have been developed for this purpose, the most promising one being liquid phase exfoliation (LPE). LPE allows obtaining good quality exfoliated MoS₂ in a simple and scalable manner. Herein we report the simultaneous exfoliation and functionalization of MoS₂ in chloroform using a specific porphyrin, namely tetrapyridyl porphyrin. We have corroborated that the exfoliation of MoS₂ in the volatile solvent increases in the presence of the porphyrin due to the different interactions between them, obtaining dispersions with good concentrations. Additionally, the optical properties of the porphyrin are modified by these interactions. The characterization carried out by several techniques supports the hypothesis that the interactions occur through the pyridyl rings of the porphyrin and the molybdenum atoms of the material.