BN Nanotube Serving as a Gas Chemical Sensor for N₂O by Parallel Electric Field

Abstract

Density functional theory calculations were performed to understand the electronic properties of C₂₄, B₁₂N₁₂, B₁₂P₁₂, and (6, 0) BNNT interacted with N₂O molecule in the presence and absence of an external electric field using the B3LYP method and 6-31G** basis set. The adsorption of N₂O from O-side on the surface of (6, 0) BNNT has high sensitivity in comparison with B₁₂N₁₂ nano-cage. The adsorption energy of N₂O (O-side) on the sidewalls of B₁₂N₁₂ and BNNT in the presence of an electric field are −21.01 and −15.48 kJ mol⁻¹, respectively. Our results suggest that in the presence of an electric field, the B₁₂N₁₂ nano-cage is the more energetically notable upon the N₂O adsorption than (6, 0) BNNT, C₂₄, and B₁₂P₁₂. Whereas, our results indicate that the electronic property of BNNT is more sensitive to N₂O molecule at the presence of an electric field than B₁₂N₁₂ nano-cage. It is anticipated that BNNT could be a favorable gas sensor for the detection of N₂O molecule. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York