The effect of gas adsorption on the field emission mechanism of carbon nanotubes

We have investigated systematically the effects of various gas adsorbates (H2, N2, O2, and H2O) on the electronic structures and the field emission properties of open edges of single-walled carbon nanotubes by density functional calculations. All of the molecules, except N2, dissociate and chemisorb on open nanotube edges with large adsorption energies. The Fermi levels are moved toward the valence (conduction) bands for O2 (H2, H2O) adsorption induced by the Mulliken charge transfer on the tube edge. The Fermi level shift for N2 adsorption is negligible. Adsorption of H2O enhances the field emission current, whereas H2 adsorption does not affect the field emission current much because of the absence of the density of states near the Fermi level. The correlation of the electronic structures and the field emission current is further discussed.     

椅型碳纳米管吸附氧原子的密度泛函理论研究

利用密度泛函B3LYP对有限长扶手椅形单壁碳纳米管(3,3),(4,4)和(5,5)吸附O原子的几何结构、电子属性、反应能和红外光谱进行了系统地理论研究,获得了一些有意义的结果,主要包括如下4个方面:(1)2个O原子吸附在管外壁垂直于管轴的C—C键形成开环的轮烯结构,吸附在管内壁形成环氧结构;(2)O原子吸附在管外壁要比吸附在管内壁具有较大的能隙和吸附反应能;(3)与单壁碳纳米管管外壁吸附1个O原子相比,2个O原子吸附在管外壁具有较大的吸附反应能;(4)B3LYP得到的C—O伸缩振动频率与实验一致.     

Structural and reactivity properties of finite length cap-ended single-wall carbon nanotubes

The reaction of C2 with growing single-wall carbon nanotubes of different chiralities is investigated using density functional theory. It is found that the energy of the frontier orbitals for (5,5) and (6,6) armchair carbon nanotubes exhibits periodic behavior with an increasing number of carbon atoms in the nanotube. Such periodic behavior induces oscillations in the reaction energy released by adsorption of C2 to the nanotube open edge. In contrast, the energy of the frontier orbitals of the (6,5) chiral tube remains constant as the number of C atoms increases, and the same stability is observed in the adsorption energy. It is suggested that this may be one of the reasons for the low percent of armchair single-wall carbon nanotubes found in the experimental synthesis.     

A hydrogen storage mechanism in single-walled carbon nanotubes.

We have carried out systematic calculations for hydrogen-adsorption and -storage mechanism in carbon nanotubes at zero temperature. Hydrogen atoms first adsorb on the tube wall in an arch-type and zigzag-type up to a coverage of theta = 1.0 and are stored in the capillary as a form of H(2) molecule at higher coverages. Hydrogen atoms can be stored dominantly through the tube wall by breaking the C--C midbond, while preserving the wall stability of a nanotube after complete hydrogen insertion, rather than by the capillarity effect through the ends of nanotubes. In the hydrogen-extraction processes, H(2) molecule in the capillary of nanotubes first dissociates and adsorbs onto the inner wall and is further extracted to the outer wall by the flip-out mechanism. Our calculations describe suitably an electrochemical storage process of hydrogen, which is applicable for the secondary hydrogen battery.     

Field emission properties of N-doped capped single-walled carbon nanotubes: a first-principles density-functional study

The geometrical structures and field emission properties of pristine and N-doped capped (5,5) single-walled carbon nanotubes have been investigated using first-principles density-functional theory. The structures of N-doped carbon nanotubes are stable under field emission conditions. The calculated work function of N-doped carbon nanotube decreases drastically when compared with pristine carbon nanotube, which means the enhancement of field emission properties. The ionization potentials of N-doped carbon nanotubes are also reduced significantly. The authors analyze the field emission mechanism in terms of energy gap between the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital and the highest occupied molecular orbital, Mulliken charge population, and local density of states. Due to the doping of nitrogen atom, the local density of states at the Fermi level increases dramatically and donor states can be observed above the Fermi level. The authors' results suggest that the field emission properties of carbon nanotubes can be enhanced by the doping of nitrogen atom, which are consistent with the experimental results.     

Dispersion-corrected DFT study on the carbon monoxide sensing by B<Subscript>2</Subscript>C nanotubes: effects of dopant and interferences

Electrical sensitivity of a boron carbon nanotube (B₂CNT) was examined toward carbon monoxide (CO) molecule by using dispersion-corrected density functional theory calculations. It was found that CO is weakly adsorbed on the tube, releasing energy of 3.5–4.1 kcal/mol, and electronic properties of the tube are not significantly changed. To overcome this problem, boron and carbon atoms of the tube were substituted by aluminum and silicon atoms, respectively. Although both Al and Si doping make the tube more reactive and sensitive to CO, Si doping seems to be a better strategy to manufacture CO chemical sensors due to the higher sensitivity without deformation of nanotube structure after adsorption procedure. Moreover, it was shown that some interference molecules such as H₂O, H₂S and NH₃ cannot significantly change the electronic properties of B₂CNT. Therefore, the Si-doped tube might convert the presence of CO molecules to electrical signal.     

Enhancement of hydrogen physisorption on graphene and carbon nanotubes by Li doping

Density-functional calculations of the adsorption of molecular hydrogen on a planar graphene layer and on the external surface of a (4,4) carbon nanotube, undoped and doped with lithium, have been carried out. Hydrogen molecules are physisorbed on pure graphene and on the nanotube with binding energies about 80-90 meV/molecule. However, the binding energies increase to 160-180 meV/molecule for many adsorption configurations of the molecule near a Li atom in the doped systems. A charge-density analysis shows that the origin of the increase in binding energy is the electronic charge transfer from the Li atom to graphene and the nanotube. The results support and explain qualitatively the enhancement of the hydrogen storage capacity observed in some experiments of hydrogen adsorption on carbon nanotubes doped with alkali atoms.     

Chemical functionalization of carbon nanotubes by carboxyl groups on stone-wales defects: a density functional theory study

Chemical functionalization of carbon nanotubes with Stone-Wales (SW) defects by carboxyl (COOH) groups is investigated by density functional calculations. Due to the localized donor states induced by the SW defect, the binding of the COOH group with the defective carbon nanotube is stronger than that with the perfect one. A quasi-tetrahedral bonding configuration of carbon atoms, indicating sp3 hybrid bonding, is formed in the adsorption site. The charge distribution analysis shows that, in comparison with benzoic acid, the localized or delocalized pi states on the nanotube would affect the polarities of chemical bonds of the COOH group without losing the acidity. Furthermore, it is found that the double-adsorption system (two COOH groups are respectively adsorbed on two individual carbon atoms of the SW defect) is more energetically favorable than the monoadsorption one. The adsorption of COOH groups leads to a significant change of the electronic states around the Fermi level, which is advantageous for the electrical conductivity. The functionalization by introducing functional groups on the topological defects provides a pathway for applications of carbon nanotubes in chemical sensors and nanobioelectronics.     

Enhanced field emission from multiwall carbon nanotube films by secondary growth

We have studied nickel, gold, and ferritin coatings on catalytically grown multiwall carbon nanotubes as well as the generation of secondary nanotubes by resubmitting the decorated nanotubes to the chemical vapor deposition process. Nickel layers sputtered on nanotubes show a stronger interaction with the nanotube walls than gold coatings. At ambient temperature this results in a metal film that is more homogeneous for Ni than for Au. Surface mass transport at elevated temperatures leads to a transformation of the coating to nanoscale clusters on the nanotube surface. The resulting Au clusters are spherelike with a very small contact area with the nanotube whereas the Ni clusters are stretched along the tube axis and have a large contact area. Secondary nanotubes were established by growing nanotubes directly on the walls of primary nanotubes. Thin Ni layers or ferritin served as catalysts. We compared the field emission properties of samples with and without secondary nanotubes. The presence of secondary nanotubes enhances the field emission substantially.     

DFT study of the dissociative adsorption of HF on an AlN nanotube

We have investigated the adsorption of hydrogen fluoride (HF) on the AlN nanotube surface using density functional theory in terms of energetic, structural and electronic properties. By overcoming energy barriers of 27.90–52.30 kcal/mol, HF molecule is dissociated into H and F species on the tube surface and its molecular structure is not preserved after the adsorption process. Dissociation energies have been calculated to be −52.57 and −70.10 kcal/mol. The process has negligible effect on the electronic and field emission properties of the AlN nanotube. This process may increase the solubility of AlN nanotubes.     

First-principles Study of Field Emissions from Natrium-Encapsulated Boron-Nitride Nanotube in a Perpendicular Geometry

The field emission from pure boron-nitride nanotube and boron-nitride nanotube encapsu-lated with natrium atoms with the electric field perpendicular to the axis of nanotubes is simulated based on a self-consistent method using the density-functional formalism. It has been found that the nearly-free-electron states in boron-nitride nanotube would perform very well in field emissions after natrium atom encapsulation. The characters of total en-ergy distribution curves are analyzed to seek the function of nearly-free-electron states in the field emission, with special attention to response of the emission current to the external electric field. At last, the perpendicular emission geometry is found to possess a very sensi-tive response degree which is supposed to be related to specific expansion orientation of the nearly-free-electron states in this system.     

H2分子在碱金属掺杂碳纳米管上的吸附特性

采用密度泛函理论研究了H₂在碱金属(M=Li, K)掺杂的扶手椅型单壁碳纳米管上的吸附. 对于碱金属管内掺杂, 模拟了4种氢吸附构型; 对于管外掺杂, 考虑了两种吸附结构, 同时还考虑了两种不同的掺杂浓度. 所有吸附模型都进行了全优化. 计算结果表明, 碱金属掺杂后, 碱金属与碳纳米管之间发生电子授受作用使得碱金属带正电荷, 对于金属Li, 管内掺杂更有利于电子向碳纳米管转移; 与管内掺杂相比, Li原子的管外掺杂更有利于H2分子吸附. 碱金属管外掺杂的碳纳米管吸附H₂的最稳定结构, 存在碱金属原子与H₂分子的配位作用.     

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.     

Influence of quantum effects on the mechanism of adsorption and phase diagram of rare gases in carbon nanotubes

We present results of grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations of rare gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr and Xe) adsorption in carbon nanotubes. The interaction model includes both quantum effects (via effective Feymann-Hibbs potential) and the atomic roughness of the tube. We show that the quantum contribution to interactions does not suppress the energetic corrugation of carbon nanotube but decreases only its average strength. In the case of Ne, the phase diagram and, in particular, the melting temperature for layers adsorbed on and within an individual tube does not depend on tube chirality. However, the structure of layers adsorbed on outer surface of the tube is strongly related to the atomic structure of the underlying tube.     

Hydrogen adsorption on zigzag (8,0) boron nitride nanotubes

The chemical adsorption of H atoms on an (8,0) zigzag boron nitride nanotube is studied using the density functional theory with the supercell method. One to four H atoms per 32 B and 32 N are considered. The results show that H atoms prefer to adsorb on the top sites of adjacent B and N atoms to form an armchair chain along the tube axis. An even-odd oscillation behavior of the adsorption energy of H atoms on the tube is found, and the average adsorption energy of even H atoms is obviously bigger than that of odd H atoms. The results can be understood with the frontier orbital theory. Based on this adsorption behavior, several high-symmetric structures of H adsorbed boron nitride nanotubes with 50% and 100% coverages are studied. The pairs of lines' pattern with 50% coverage has the biggest average adsorption energy per H(2) among the chosen configurations, corresponding to approximately 4 wt % hydrogen storage.     

Studies on the encapsulation of F- in single walled nanotubes of different chiralities using density functional theory calculations and Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations

In this study, the encapsulation of F(-) in different nanotubes (NTs) has been investigated using electronic structure calculations and Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations. The carbon atoms in the single walled carbon nanotube (CNT) are systematically doped with B and N atoms. The effect of the encapsulation of F(-) in the boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) has also been investigated. Electronic structure calculations show that the (7,0) chirality nanotube forms a more stable endohedral complex (with F(-)) than the other nanotubes. Evidence obtained from the band structure of CNT calculations reveals that the band gap of the CNT is marginally affected by the encapsulation. However, the same encapsulation significantly changes the band gap of the BNNT. The density of states (DOS) derived from the calculations shows significant changes near the Fermi level. The snapshots obtained from the CPMD simulation highlight the fluctuation of the anion inside the tube and there is more fluctuation in BNNT than in CNT.     

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.     

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.     

Hydrogen adsorption on carbon-doped boron nitride nanotube

The adsorption of atomic and molecular hydrogen on carbon-doped boron nitride nanotubes is investigated within the ab initio density functional theory. The binding energy of adsorbed hydrogen on carbon-doped boron nitride nanotube is substantially increased when compared with hydrogen on nondoped nanotube. These results are in agreement with experimental results for boron nitride nanotubes (BNNT) where dangling bonds are present. The atomic hydrogen makes a chemical covalent bond with carbon substitution, while a physisorption occurs for the molecular hydrogen. For the H(2) molecule adsorbed on the top of a carbon atom in a boron site (BNNT + C(B)-H(2)), a donor defect level is present, while for the H(2) molecule adsorbed on the top of a carbon atom in a nitrogen site (BNNT + C(N)-H(2)), an acceptor defect level is present. The binding energies of H(2) molecules absorbed on carbon-doped boron nitride nanotubes are in the optimal range to work as a hydrogen storage medium.