Investigation of thermoelectric characteristics of MoS₂ in bulk and thin film structures

Authors

  • Melania Suweni Muntini Instrumentation and Electronic Laboratory, Department of Physics, Institute Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya, 60111, Indonesia
  • Irasani Rahayu Instrumentation and Electronic Laboratory, Department of Physics, Institute Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya, 60111, Indonesia
  • Mekhala Insawang Program of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University, Sakon Nakhon, 47000, Thailand
  • Widya Dewayanti P Instrumentation and Electronic Laboratory, Department of Physics, Institute Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya, 60111, Indonesia
  • Surasak Ruamruk Program of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University, Sakon Nakhon, 47000, Thailand
  • Somporn Thaowankaew Program of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University, Sakon Nakhon, 47000, Thailand
  • Iim Fatimah Instrumentation and Electronic Laboratory, Department of Physics, Institute Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya, 60111, Indonesia
  • Tosawat Seetawan Program of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University, Sakon Nakhon, 47000, Thailand
  • Athorn Voraud Program of Physics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University, Sakon Nakhon, 47000, Thailand

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55674/cs.v18i2.266048

Keywords:

MoS2 bulk material, Hot pressing, RF sputtering, Thin film material

Abstract

In this work, we investigated and compared the thermoelectric properties of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) in bulk and thin-film structures. The bulk MoS2 was synthesized by hot pressing (HP) at 700°C from MoS2 nano-powder. While MoS2 thin film was fabricated via radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering at ambient temperature using a MoS2 bulk target and then annealed at 700oC. After bulk and thin-film MoS2 samples were prepared, the characterization of crystal structure, surface morphology, and atomic composition was performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), respectively. The electrical resistivity (ρ) and Seebeck coefficient (S) were measured by the ZEM-3 method to determine the thermoelectric power factor (PF). The results revealed that bulk MoS2 exhibited p-type thermoelectricity. In contrast, the MoS2 thin films exhibited n-type thermoelectricity. Among the thermoelectric power factors, the highest power factor of bulk MoS2 was 0.52 mW m⁻¹ K⁻², while the highest power factor of thin film MoS2 was 3.14 mW m⁻¹ K⁻² at the temperature measurement 473K.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

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HIGHLIGHTS

• The microstructure of MoS₂ has differed due to three-dimensional (bulk) and two-dimensional (thin film) to show the hexagonal phase for bulk and 2H for thin film.
• The microstructure of MoS₂ has induced a p-type thermoelectricity on bulk structure and transferred to an n-type thermoelectricity on thin film structure.
• The power factor of MoS₂ thin films was higher than that of bulk MoS₂, indicating superior electrical energy conversion efficiency in the thin-film structure.

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Published

2026-03-10

How to Cite

Muntini, M. S., Rahayu, I., Insawang, M., Dewayanti P, W., Ruamruk, S., Thaowankaew, S., Fatimah, I., Seetawan, T., & Voraud, A. (2026). Investigation of thermoelectric characteristics of MoS₂ in bulk and thin film structures. Creative Science, 18(2), 266048. https://doi.org/10.55674/cs.v18i2.266048

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Vol. 18 No. 2 (2026): Creative Science (May - August)

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Research Article

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