Preparation and electrical conductivity of polyethers/WS2 layered nanocomposites

Utilizing the solvothermal synthesis technique, lithium intercalated tungsten disulfide Li_xWS₂ with x > 1 was obtained, which was allowed to react with water to the formation of single-molecule-layer suspension of tungsten disulfide. The layered nanocomposites PEG, PEO/WS₂, intercalating poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG, MW ≈ 1 × 10³, 6 × 10³, 1 × 10⁴) and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO, MW ≈ 3 × 10⁵) into the tungsten disulfide host galleries, were prepared using the improved exfoliation-adsorption technique. It was revealed that the intercalated polymers within the host galleries are in a double-layer arrangement with an interlayer expansion of about 9 Å. Despite high conductivity of the host material, those of the PEG, PEO/WS₂ nanocomposites were found to be high in the order of 1 × 10⁻² to 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ at ambient temperature, resulted from the guest-host charge transfers.