  Group-10 transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are rising in prominence
within the highly innovative field of 2D materials. While PtS2 has been
investigated for potential electronic applications, due to its high
charge-carrier mobility and strong layer-dependent bandgap, it has proven to be
one of the more difficult TMDs to synthesise. In contrast to most TMDs, Pt has
a significantly more stable monosulfide, the non-layered PtS. The existence of
two stable platinum sulfides, sometimes within the same sample, has resulted in
much confusion between the materials in the literature. Neither of these Pt
sulfides have been thoroughly characterised as-of-yet. Here we utilise
time-efficient, scalable methods to synthesise high-quality thin films of both
Pt sulfides on a variety of substrates. The competing nature of the sulfides
and limited thermal stability of these materials is demonstrated. We report
peak-fitted X-ray photoelectron spectra, and Raman spectra using a variety of
laser wavelengths, for both materials. This systematic characterisation
provides a guide to differentiate between the sulfides using relatively simple
methods which is essential to enable future work on these interesting
materials.
