Encapsulation of WC within 2H-WS2 inorganic fullerene-like cages

The preparation of WC encapsulated within 2H-WS2 inorganic fullerene-like (LF) cages by sulfidisation is described; the encapsulates were prepared from both high surface area (high S-g) and low surface area (low S-g) WC precursors; for low S-g WC, partial conversion of the carbide to the sulfide only was achieved with 2-20 IF layers obtained around carbide particles, resulting in WC/2H-WS2 composites; the amount of conversion obtained in the case of the high S-g WC depended on the method of preparation of the precursor; total conversion to 2H-WS2 was obtained from a precursor obtained by carburisation of small WO3 particles, while only partial conversion was obtained in the instance of high S-g WC prepared from ball-milled low S-g WC.