Adsorption of transition-metal atoms on boron nitride nanotube: a density-functional study

Adsorption of transition atoms on a (8,0) zigzag single-walled boron nitride (BN) nanotube has been investigated using density-functional theory methods. Main focuses have been placed on configurations corresponding to the located minima of the adsorbates, the corresponding binding energies, and the modified electronic properties of the BN nanotubes due to the adsorbates. We have systemically studied a series of metal adsorbates including all 3d transition-metal elements (Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn) and two group-VIIIA transition-metal elements (Pd and Pt). We found that many transition-metal atoms can be chemically adsorbed on the outer surface of the BN nanotubes and that the adsorption process is typically exothermic. Upon adsorption, the binding energies of the Sc, Ti, Ni, Pd, and Pt atoms are relatively high (>1.0 eV), while those of V, Fe, and Co atoms are modest, ranging from 0.62 to 0.92 eV. Mn atom forms a weak bond with the BN nanotube, while Zn atom cannot be chemically adsorbed on the BN nanotube. In most cases, the adsorption of transition-metal atoms can induce certain impurity states within the band gap of the pristine BN nanotube, thereby reducing the band gap. Most metal-adsorbed BN nanotubes exhibit nonzero magnetic moments, contributed largely by the transition-metal atoms.     

Theoretical Prediction of Adsorption Properties of Carmustine Drug on Various Sites of the Outer Surface of the Single-Walled Boron Nitride Nanotube and Investigation of Urea Effect on Drug Delivery by DFT and MD

In this work, the adsorption behavior of Carmustine (BCNU) drug over the (6,0) zigzag single-wall boron nitride nanotube (SWBNNT) is studied by means of density functional theory calculations and molecular dynamics simulations (MD). The calculated adsorption energies proved that the adsorption of BCNU molecule on SWBNNT is a physisorption process. The natural bond orbital calculations demonstrated that existence of a charge transfer from the SWBNNT to the BCNU molecule. Moreover, quantum theory of atoms in molecules showed that the hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interactions are two major factors contributed to the overall stabilities of the complexes. Furthermore, interaction of BCNU with the surface of single wall BNNT at 310 K and 1 bar in the present of water and different concentration of Urea molecules has been studied by MD simulation. The MD results confirm that the highest number of hydrogen bond and the lowest value of Lennard-Jones (L-J) energy between nanotube and drug exist in the simulation system with concentration of 1 mol L^?1 Urea.     

Adsorption of hydrogen molecules on the platinum-doped boron nitride nanotubes

Adsorption of hydrogen molecules on platinum-doped single-walled zigzag (8,0) boron nitride (BN) nanotube is investigated using the density-functional theory. The Pt atom tends to occupy the axial bridge site of the BN tube with the highest binding energy of -0.91 eV. Upon Pt doping, several occupied and unoccupied impurity states are induced, which reduces the band gap of the pristine BN nanotube. Upon hydrogen adsorption on Pt-doped BN nanotube, the first hydrogen molecule can be chemically adsorbed on the Pt-doped BN nanotube without crossing any energy barrier, whereas the second hydrogen molecule has to overcome a small energy barrier of 0.019 eV. At least up to two hydrogen molecules can be chemically adsorbed on a single Pt atom supported by the BN nanotube, with the average adsorption energy of -0.365 eV. Upon hydrogen adsorption on a Pt-dimer-doped BN nanotube, the formation of the Pt dimer not only weakens the interaction between the Pt cluster and the BN nanotube but also reduces the average adsorption energy of hydrogen molecules. These calculation results can be useful in the assessment of metal-doped BN nanotubes as potential hydrogen storage media.     

Defects-enhanced dissociation of H2 on boron nitride nanotubes

With the density-functional theory and nudged elastic band method, the adsorption and dissociation of the hydrogen molecule on the boron nitride (BN) nanotubes with and without defects are studied theoretically. Hydrogen molecule physically adsorbs on the surface of the BN layer and nanotubes. The dissociation of the hydrogen molecule on the surface of the perfect BN layer and nanotubes is endothermic, and the energy barrier reduces with the decrease of the diameter of the tubes, while it is still larger than 2.0 eV for the (7,0) BN nanotube. Antisite, carbon substitutional, vacancy, and Stone-Wales 5775 defects on the wall of the tube are considered. With the presence of the defects, the dissociation of the hydrogen molecule becomes exothermic and the dissociation barrier can be reduced to about 0.67 eV.     

First-principles study of interaction between H2 molecules and BN nanotubes with BN divacancies

The interaction between H(2) molecules and boron nitride (BN) single-walled nanotubes with BN divacancies is investigated with density-functional theory. Our calculations reveal that H(2) molecules adsorb physically outside defective BN nanotubes, and cannot enter into BN nanotubes through bare BN divacancies because the energy barrier is as high as 4.62 eV. After the defects are saturated by hydrogen atoms, the physisorption behavior of H(2) molecules is not changed, but the energy barrier of H(2) molecules entering into BN nanotubes through the defects is reduced to 0.58 eV. This phenomenon is ascribed to hydrogen saturation induced reduction of electrostatic potential around the defects.     

Structural, energetic, and electronic properties of hydrogenated titanium clusters

Hydrogen undergoes dissociative chemisorption on small titanium clusters. How the electronic structure of the cluster changes as a function of the number of adsorbed hydrogen atoms is an important issue in nanocatalysis and hydrogen storage. In this paper, a detailed theoretical investigation of the structural, energetic, and electronic properties of the icosahedral Ti13 cluster is presented as a function of the number of adsorbed hydrogen atoms. The results show that hydrogen loaded Ti13H20 and Ti13H30 clusters are exceptionally stable and are characterized by hydrogen multicenter bonds. In Ti13H20, the dissociated hydrogen atoms are bound to each of the 20 triangular faces of Ti13, while in Ti13H30, they are bound to the 30 Ti-Ti edges of Ti13. Consequently, the chemisorption and desorption energies of the Ti13H20 (1.93 eV, 3.10 eV) are higher than that of Ti13H30 (1.13 eV, 1.95 eV). While increased hydrogen adsorption leads to an elongation of the Ti-Ti bonds, there is a concomitant increase in the electrostatic interaction between the dissociated hydrogen atoms and the Ti13 cluster. This enhanced interaction results from the participation of the subsurface titanium atom at higher hydrogen concentrations. Illustrative results of hydrogen saturation on the larger icosahedral Ti55 cluster are also discussed. The importance of these results on hydrogen saturated titanium clusters in elucidating the mechanism of hydrogen adsorption and desorption in titanium doped complex metal hydrides is discussed.     

Strong correlations and Fickian water diffusion in narrow carbon nanotubes

The authors have used atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study the structure and dynamics of water molecules inside an open ended carbon nanotube placed in a bath of water molecules. The size of the nanotube allows only a single file of water molecules inside the nanotube. The water molecules inside the nanotube show solidlike ordering at room temperature, which they quantify by calculating the pair correlation function. It is shown that even for the longest observation times, the mode of diffusion of the water molecules inside the nanotube is Fickian and not subdiffusive. They also propose a one-dimensional random walk model for the diffusion of the water molecules inside the nanotube. They find good agreement between the mean-square displacements calculated from the random walk model and from MD simulations, thereby confirming that the water molecules undergo normal mode diffusion inside the nanotube. They attribute this behavior to strong positional correlations that cause all the water molecules inside the nanotube to move collectively as a single object. The average residence time of the water molecules inside the nanotube is shown to scale quadratically with the nanotube length.     

Equilibrium properties of Ag clusters on Pt(111)

Molecular dynamics simulations (MD) and Embedded Atom Method (EAM) potentials are employed to investigate the properties of small Ag clusters deposited on the (111) surface of Pt. The computation of the dissociation energies reveals the most stable structures up to 19 atoms, while MD simulations allow to extract the dynamical diffusion barrier for adatom, dimer and trimer. We obtain dissociation energies in the range of 0.3 eV for the trimer and 0.45 eV for the heptamer and a migration energy as low as 0.05 eV for the adatom.     

碳离子碰撞单壁碳纳米管的动力学

采用分子动力学方法研究了碳离子碰撞碳纳米管中顶位、键中心和六元环中心的动力学过程。通过分析低、中、高3种入射能分别对碰撞过程的影响,探索了典型缺陷形成的微观演化过程。研究结果表明,碰撞碳纳米管中不同空间位置,其碰撞结果差异较大,其中顶位碰撞阈能最低,约为20 e V;碰撞六元环中心时碳管会发生严重变形,损伤最为严重。通过分析入射离子动能,碳纳米管热动能、质心动能以及势能随时间的演化规律,阐述了碰撞过程中的能量转移机制。     

铁纳米线-氮化硼纳米管复合结构的形成及其压缩性质的模拟研究

通过分子动力学理论计算方法对铁纳米线(FeNW)在氮化硼纳米管(BNNT)内的形成及其复合结构(FeNW@BNNT)的压缩性质进行了模拟研究。通过对充以铁原子的BN(5,5)和BN(8,8)纳米管的进行结构优化可以发现,在BN(5,5)纳米管轴线上能生成稳定的一维FeNW,而BN(8,8)纳米管内形成呈螺旋状的三束绞缠的FeNW。其径向分布函数表明在BN(5,5)内生成的FeNW具有良好的一维性且原子分布均匀等特征。通过对BN(5,5)与FeNW@BN(5,5)轴向压缩及其能量分析,可以发现它们虽具有相同屈曲应变,但屈曲前FeNW@BN(5,5)的弹性系数稍大于BN(5,5),且FeNW@BN(5,5)抗压屈曲能力也明显较强。     

碳离子碰撞单壁碳纳米管的动力学

采用分子动力学方法研究了碳离子碰撞碳纳米管中顶位、键中心和六元环中心的动力学过程。通过分析低、中、高3种入射能分别对碰撞过程的影响,探索了典型缺陷形成的微观演化过程。研究结果表明,碰撞碳纳米管中不同空间位置,其碰撞结果差异较大,其中顶位碰撞阈能最低,约为20 eV;碰撞六元环中心时碳管会发生严重变形,损伤最为严重。通过分析入射离子动能,碳纳米管热动能、质心动能以及势能随时间的演化规律,阐述了碰撞过程中的能量转移机制。     

Quantum study of Eley-Rideal reaction and collision induced desorption of hydrogen atoms on a graphite surface. II. H-physisorbed case

Following previous investigation of collision induced (CI) processes involving hydrogen atoms chemisorbed on graphite [R. Martinazzo and G. F. Tantardini, J. Chem. Phys. 124, 124702 (2006)], the case in which the target hydrogen atom is initially physisorbed on the surface is considered here. Several adsorbate-substrate initial states of the target H atom in the physisorption well are considered, and CI processes are studied for projectile energies up to 1 eV. Results show that (i) Eley-Rideal cross sections at low collision energies may be larger than those found in the H-chemisorbed case but they rapidly decrease as the collision energy increases; (ii) product hydrogen molecules are vibrationally very excited; (iii) collision induced desorption cross sections rapidly increase, reaching saturation values greater than 10 A2; (iv) trapping of the incident atoms is found to be as efficient as the Eley-Rideal reaction at low energies and remains sizable (3-4 A2) at high energies. The latter adsorbate-induced trapping results mainly in formation of metastable hot hydrogen atoms, i.e., atoms with an excess energy channeled in the motion parallel to the surface. These atoms might contribute in explaining hydrogen formation on graphite.     

DFT study on the structural and electronic properties of Pt-doped boron nitride nanotubes

First-principles calculations based on density functional theory were carried out to investigate the structural and electronic properties of Pt substitution-doped boron nitride (BN) nanotubes. The electronic and structural properties were studied for substituted Pt in the boron and the nitrogen sites of the (BN) nanotube. The band gap significantly diminishes to 2.095 eV for Pt doping at the B site while the band gap diminishes to 2.231 eV for Pt doping at the N site. The band density increases in both the valence band and the conduction band after doping. The effects of the hardness and softness group 17 (halogen elements) were calculated by density functional theory (DFT).     

Collision-induced dissociation of water into ions

A modification of the central force model (CFM) that describes the dissociation of water molecules into OH- and H+ ions is proposed for molecular dynamics simulations of energetic particle bombardment of water ice. The model keeps all the properties of the CFM but permits charge exchange between oxygen and hydrogen atoms when the water molecule starts to dissociate after collision with an energetic projectile. The reaction products, therefore, have the correct integer charges, -1 and +1 for hydroxyl and a proton. The threshold for the ionic dissociation is corrected to be at the right value, 17.2 eV, in a vacuum. Using the proposed model, total cross-sections for ionic dissociation as functions of the projectile energy are estimated for Ar and C projectiles colliding with water molecules in a vacuum and water ice. Carbon projectiles are demonstrated to produce more dissociated ions at energies lower than 300 eV. Argon projectiles are more effective in breaking the molecules at higher energies.     

Theoretical study of the stability of lithium atoms in alpha-rhombohedral boron

The stability of lithium atoms in alpha-rhombohedral boron was investigated by first-principles calculations of total energies and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. In the case of a low concentration (1.03 at. %), Li at the center of the icosahedral B12 site (the I-site) had a negative binding energy, which suggests Li at the I-site is unstable. However, MD simulations at temperatures below 750 K indicated that Li is still confined in the B12 cage under these conditions, which means Li at the I-site is metastable. Over 800 K, Li began to move away from the B12 site and settled at the tetrahedral site (the T-site) or at the octahedral site (the O-site). Li at the T-site also had a negative binding energy, but MD simulations indicated it was metastable up to 1400 K and did not move to other sites. Li at the O-site was energetically the most favorable, having a positive binding energy. In the case of a high concentration (7.69 at. %), the I-site changed to an unstable saddle point. At this concentration, the T-site was metastable and the O-site became the most stable. In MD simulations at 1400 K, Li atoms at the O-site never jumped to other sites regardless of concentration. Considering these facts, the diffusion coefficient of Li in alpha-rhombohedral boron would have to be very small below 1400 K.     

Theoretical prediction of encapsulation and adsorption of platinum-anticancer drugs into single walled boron nitride and carbon nanotubes

In this research, the adsorption and encapsulation of cisplatin, nedplatin, oxaliplatin and carbaplatin as Pt-anticancer drugs into the (7,7) boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) and carbon nanotube (CNT) are investigated using density functional theory. The different orientation modes of drug molecules onto the outer and inner surfaces of BNNT and CNT are studied. Analysis of the adsorption energy reveals that the complex formation process is favorable. The calculated adsorption energies indicate that the encapsulation of drugs inside the nanotubes is more favorable than the adsorption of drugs outside of the nanotubes. On the other hand, the results show that the BNNT/oxaliplatin(in) system is more stable than the others. The stabilization of nanotube/drug complexes results in electronic and structural properties change in the nanotubes. The natural bond orbital calculations show that the van der Waals forces, hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions are the major factors contributed to the overall stabilities of the complexes. The predicted electronic and structural properties of BNNT compared to the CNT towards Pt-anticancer drugs, suggest that BNNT can act as drug delivery vehicles.     

Boron‐Double‐Ring Sheet,Fullerene, and Nanotubes: Potential Hydrogen Storage Materials

Similar to carbon‐based graphene, fullerenes and carbon nanotubes, boron atoms can form sheets, fullerenes, and nanotubes. Here we investigate several of these novel boron structures all based on the boron double ring within the framework of density functional theory. The boron sheet is found to be metallic and flat in its ground state. The spherical boron cage containing 180 atoms is also stable and has I symmetry. Stable nanotubes are obtained by rolling up the boron sheet, and all are metallic. The hydrogen storage capacity of boron nanostructures is also explored, and it is found that Li‐decorated boron sheets and nanotubes are potential candidates for hydrogen storage. For Li‐decorated boron sheets, each Li atom can adsorb a maximum of 4 H₂ molecules with g_d=7.892 wt %. The hydrogen gravimetric density increases to g_d=12.309 wt % for the Li‐decorated (0,6) boron nanotube.     

Collision Dynamics of an Energetic Carbon Ion Impinging on the Stone-Wales Defect in a Single-walled Carbon Nanotube

By employing atomistic simulations based on an empirical potential model and a self-consistent-charge density-functional tight-binding method, the collision dynamics process of an energetic carbon ion impinging on the Stone-Wales defect in a single-walled carbon nanotube was investigated. The outwardly and inwardly displacement threshold energies for the primary knock-on atom in the Stone-Wales defect were calculated to be 24.0 and 25.0 eV, respectively. The final defect configuration for each case was a 5-1DB-T(DB=dangling bond) defect formed in the front surface of the nanotube. Moreover, the minimum incident energy of the projectile prompting the primary knock-on atom displacement was predicted to be 71.0 eV, and the time evolutions of the kinetic and potential energies of the projectile and the primary knock-on atom were both plotted to analyze the energy transfer process.     

H2与C,BN和GaN纳米管的相互作用势能

基于C,B,N和Ga与H原子间的L-J势函数,系统计算了H2处于(n,n)(n=8,10,12)单壁C,BN和GaN纳米管内部及外部不同处的势能.根据势能变化曲线,分析了3种纳米管氢物理吸附能力的差异,给出了H2在3种纳米管外部的势能表达式.研究结果表明:3种纳米管内部的氢吸附力均分别高于管外;随着纳米管直径的增加,各纳米管管内的氢吸附力均略有下降,而管外变化不明显;GaN,BN和C纳米管依次具有更好的储氢能力.     

Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulation to describe the rotation of rigid, low aspect ratio carbon nanotubes in simple shear flow

In this paper, the rotation of short carbon nanotubes in simple shear liquid argon flow was investigated by nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. In their simulations, nanotubes were described as rigid cylinders of carbon atoms. Lennard-Jones potential was employed to represent both argon-argon and argon-carbon interactions. Results show that time period of a nanotube as calculated from MD simulations is longer than what would be calculated from Jeffery's equation based on the aspect ratio of the cylinder. The difference is much higher at low shear rates and for small aspect ratios. Results also reveal that adding caps to an open-ended nanotube speeds up its rotation.