Raman metrics for molybdenum disulfide and graphene enable statistical mapping of nanosheet populations

The growing research interest and uptake of layered nanomaterials for real-world applications require efficient, reliable, high-quality characterisation methods. Liquid-exfoliated graphene has well-established Raman spectroscopic metrics for mean size and thickness. In association with the high-resolution mapping process described here, distributions of nanosheet properties can be reconstructed. Here, we develop new, robust metrics for length and layer number of MoS2 nanosheets, developed using resonant Raman spectroscopy, applicable to both liquid- and mechanically-exfoliated MoS2. The use of metricised Raman mapping analysis, here demonstrated for graphene and MoS2, facilitates the standardisation of characterisation, allowing the correlation of size- and thickness-sensitive applications’ performance with materials properties.