Rapid synthesis of MoS2-PDA-Ag nanocomposites as heterogeneous catalysts and antimicrobial agents via microwave irradiation

Two dimensional nanomaterials have attracted great interest for diverse applications due to their unique structure feature, small size and high specific surface areas. Among them, the two-dimensional metal dichalcogenides have recently emerged as the outstanding ones for various applications ranged from biosensing, energy conversion and storage, and cancer photothermal treatment. In this work, a fast, facile and environmentally benign microwave irradiation method was developed to fabricate MoS2-PDA-Ag nanocomposites. To obtain MoS2-PDA-Ag nanocomposites, MoS2 nanosheets were first coated with polydopamine (PDA) films via self-polymerization of dopamine in alkaline aqueous solution. Then Ag nanoparticles were facilely deposed onto the surface of MoS2-PDA via in situ reduction by using microwave irradiation. Here, the PDA thin films were as the ad-layers for reduction and stabilizing the Ag nanoparticles simultaneously. The successful preparation of MoS2-PDA-Ag nanocomposites was characterized by means of transmission electron microscope, thermogravimetry analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We demonstrated that MoS2-PDA-Ag nanocomposites can be facilely fabricated via combination of mussel inspired chemistry and microwave irradiation. The resultant composites exhibited high catalytic activity towards 4-nitrophenol reduction and great antibacterial activity compared with pure MoS2 and MoS2-PDA.