A magnetic resonance study of MoS₂ fullerene-like nanoparticles

We report on the first nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) investigation of inorganic fullerene-like MoS ₂ nanoparticles. Spectra of bulk 2H-MoS₂ samples have also been measured for comparison. The similarity between the measured quadrupole coupling constants and chemical shielding anisotropy parameters for bulk and fullerene-like MoS₂ reflects the nearly identical local crystalline environments of the Mo atoms in these two materials. EPR measurements show that fullerene-like MoS₂ exhibits a larger density of dangling bonds carrying unpaired electrons, indicative of them having a more defective structure than the bulk sample. The latter observation explains the increase in the spin-lattice relaxation rate observed in the NMR measurements for this sample in comparison with the bulk 2H- MoS₂ ones.