Engineering a 3D MoS2 foam using keratin exfoliated nanosheets

Owing to their exceptional optical and electronic properties; two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) have attracted immense research interest. However, the lack of an efficient route for large-scale production of nano-layered sheets with long shelf-life and colloidal stability to avoid their restacking upon drying poses a significant bottleneck in their widespread use limiting their utility in device fabrication especially in functional electronics. Here, we report a facile method to obtain the high-quality dispersion of nano-layered MoS2 nanosheets with exceptionally high yield of similar to 56%, long shelf life and excellent electronic properties, which was confirmed by the high conductivity values of 5 x 10(-4) S cm(-1) (much higher than the best reports) measured on the as-casted film. Moreover, we subsequently show that the exfoliated material can be transformed into a 3D MoS2 foam with intact optical properties confirmed from the presence of the band gap at similar to 2.1 eV, and photothermal behavior showing the increase of similar to 40 degrees C within 2 min of NIR irradiation making this material an attractive substrate for applications in catalysis, sensing and functional electronics.