For the atomic unit dispersion of Mo3Se3− (a negatively charged atomic chain material that forms bulk crystals through ionic bonds with cations), LiMo3Se3 crystals were synthesized by an ion-exchange reaction from InMo3Se3 (InMo3Se3 + LiI → LiMo3Se3 + InI). The temperature- and time-dependent kinetics of the ion-exchange reaction were studied. The change in the lattice constant, obtained through X-ray diffraction analysis, showed a reaction pattern corresponding to random walk diffusion within the atomic chain. The temperature-specific experiments (Arrhenius plot) confirmed that the ion-exchange activation energy was approximately 0.565 eV. By dispersing the LiMo3Se3 synthesized through an optimized ion-exchange reaction in an aqueous solution, it was confirmed that the one-dimensional (1D) nanostructure was well dispersed. Based on the results of this experiment, it is expected that it will be possible to lay the foundation for the application of water-dispersible one-dimensional materials to various bio fields.
This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning (NRF- 2019R1A2C1006972 , NRF- 2020R1A2C2010984 ).