Flower-Like Molybdenum Disulfide for Polarity-Triggered Accumulation/Release of Small Molecules

Flower-like molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) with rich edge sites has been prepared by the hydrothermal method. The edge sites possess polarity due to the noncentrosymmetric Mo–S on exposed (100) facets and thus show a strong electrostatic attraction toward polar species. The flower-like MoS2 can be used as small-molecule carriers for the model drug, Rhodamine B (RhB). The results prove that flower-like MoS2 have fast adsorption kinetics and perform a switchable accumulation/release with response to the solvent polarity. An outstanding reusability can be found in flower-like MoS2 due to little cargo retention, and the recycle of adsorption can be repeated 100 times with above 88.5% of the adsorption capacity retained. The flower-like MoS2 with solvent polarity-triggered loading/release can be extended to controlled release and color switch of display.