Structure of poorly crystalline MoS2 — A modeling study

[[abstract]]Current interest in amorphous and poorly crystallized phases of the layered transition metal dichalcogenides arises primarily from their unique catalytic and electrochemical properties not present in the corresponding crystalline phases. Computer calcultions of the scattered X-ray intensity from model structures of poorly crystalline (px-) MoS2 are compared here with experimental patterns from materials prepared at different temperatures. The results are used to identify the salient features of the observed diffraction patterns of px-MoS2 in which the measured diffuse scattered intensity may be clearly attributed to the stacking and rotational disorder of the layers as well as the limited number of these layers. A procedure for the interpretation of the X-ray diffraction pattern of px-MoS2 has thereby been developed in which the entire scattering pattern may be calculated without separation into Bragg peaks (of varying breadth and shape) and diffuse background.[[notice]]補正完