Ethyl Acetylene Adsorption on the Surface of a BN Nanotube: A Computational Study

Abstract

Abstract: Electrical sensitivity of a boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) was examined toward ethyl acetylene (C₄H₆) molecule by using density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G (d) level, and it was found that the adsorption energy (E_ad) of ethyl acetylene the pristine nanotubes is about -1.60kcal/mol. But when nanotube has been doped with Si and Al atoms, the adsorption energy of ethylacetylene molecule was increased. Calculation showed that when the nanotube is doping by Al, the adsorption energy is about -24.19kcal/mol and also the amount of HOMO/LUMO energy gap (E_g) will reduce significantly. Boron nitride nanotube is a suitable adsorbent for ethylacetylene and can be used in separation processes ethylacetylene. It is seem that nanotube (BNNT) is a suitable semiconductor after doping, and the doped BNNT in the presence of ethylacetylene an electrical signal is generating directly and therefore can potentially be used as ethylacetylene sensors.