An Overview of Carbon and Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Nanostructures

Abstract

Industrialization, technological advancement, and rapid population growth have placed immense pressure on energy resources. Rapidly diminishing fossil fuels and the unfavorable environmental impacts associated with their use have further emphasized the necessity for alternate energy sources. Researchers have been continuously seeking trustworthy, secure, and environmentally friendly energy sources, and found that carbon and two-dimensional (2D) materials such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are suitable for energy generation (hydrogen production, fuel cells, and solar cells) and storage (supercapacitor and battery) applications. This chapter introduces the basic structure of carbon-based materials (graphene and carbon nanotubes), TMD nanomaterials (mainly MoS2 and MoSe2), and their applications. Carbon and TMDs materials show various electronic properties, such as conducting, semiconducting, and metallic, depending on the atomic arrangement of the atoms in the lattice. © 2024 World Scientific Publishing Company.