The effect of concentration of <Emphasis Type="Bold">H</Emphasis> <Subscript> <Emphasis Type="Bold">2</Emphasis> </Subscript> physisorption on the current–voltage characteristic of armchair BN nanotubes in CNT–BNNT–CNT set

In this research, we have studied physisorption of hydrogen molecules on armchair boron nitride (BN) nanotube (3,3) using density functional methods and its effect on the current–voltage (I–V) characteristic of the nanotube as a function of concentration using Green’s function techniques. The adsorption geometries and energies, charge transfer and electron transport are calculated. It is found that H₂ physisorption can suppress the I–V characteristic of the BN nanotube, but it has no effect on the band gap of the nanotube. As the H₂ concentration increases, under the same applied bias voltage, the current through the BN nanotube first increases and then begins to decline. The current–voltage characteristic indicates that H₂ molecules can be detected by a BN-based sensor.     

Adsorption of mercaptopurine drug on the BN nanotube,nanosheet and nanocluster: a density functional theory study

ABSTRACT

We have investigated the interaction of mercaptopurine (MP) drug with BN nanotube, nanosheet and nanocluster using density functional theory calculations in the gas phase, and aqueous solution. We predicted that the MP drug tends to be physically adsorbed on the surface of BN nanosheet with an adsorption energy (E_ad) about ?3.2?kcal/mol. The electronic properties of BN nanosheet are not affected by the MP drug, and this sheet is not a sensor. But the electronic properties of BN nanotube and nanocluster are significantly sensitive to this drug in both gas phase, and aqueous solution. The BN nanocluster suffers from a long recovery time (8.8?×?10⁸?s) because of a strong interaction (E_ad?=??28.6?kcal/mol), and this cluster is not a proper sensor for MP detection. But the BN nanotube benefits from a short recovery time about 49.5?s at room temperature, and may be a promising candidate for application in the MP sensors. The water solvent decreases the strength of interaction between the BN nanotube, and MP drug, but it does not affect the electronic sensitivity of the nanotube sensibly.     

Filling boron nitride nanotubes with metals

The authors’ endeavors over the last few years with respect to boron nitride (BN) nanotube metal filling are reviewed. Mo clusters of 1–2 nm in size and FeNi Invar alloy (Fe ∼60 at. %; Ni ∼40 at. %) or Co nanorods of 20–70 nm in diameter were embedded into BN nanotube channels via a newly developed two-stage process, in which multi-walled C nanotubes served as templates for the BN multi-walled nanotube synthesis. During cluster filling, low-surface-tension and melting-point Mo oxide first filled a C nanotube through the open tube ends, followed by fragmentation of this filling into discrete clusters via O₂ outflow and C→BN conversion within tubular shells at high temperature. During nanorod filling, C nanotubes containing FeNi or Co nanoparticles at the tube tips were first synthesized by plasma-assisted chemical vapor deposition on FeNi Invar alloy or Co substrates, respectively, and, then, the nanomaterial was heated to the melting points of the corresponding metals in a flow of B₂O₃ and N₂ gases. During this second stage, simultaneous filling of nanotubes with a FeNi or Co melt through capillarity and chemical modification of C tubular shells to form BN nanotubes occurred. The synthesized nanocomposites were analyzed by scanning and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction, electron-energy-loss spectroscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The nanostructures are presumed to function as ‘nanocables’ having conducting metallic cores (FeNi, Co, Mo) and insulating nanotubular shields (BN) with the additional benefit of excellent environmental stability. Received: 10 October 2002 / Accepted: 25 October 2002 / Published online: 10 March 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +81-298/51-6280, E-mail: golberg.dmitri@nims.go.jp     

Electronic,structural, and thermal properties of a nanocable consisting of carbon and BN nanotubes

The band structure and thermal behavior of a coaxial C/BN nanocable (5,5)C@(17,0)BN consisting of a carbon nanotube and a boron nitride nanotube have been studied using a tight-binding approximation based on density functional theory. The system is stable up to T～3500–3700 K. As the temperature increases, deformations of the BN tube begin earlier than those of the carbon tube. The near-Fermi states of the nanocable are formed by the overlapping π-π* bands of the carbon tube, and the outer BN nanotube (the nanocable sheath) is an insulator with a bandgap of ～4 eV. The electronic properties of the nanocable (the metallic-type conductivity of the C tube and the insulating character of the BN tube) are retained over the entire temperature interval.     

Fe nanowire encapsulated in boron nitride nanotubes

Boron nitride (BN) nanotubes, nanohorns, nanocoils were synthesized by annealing Fe₄N and B powders at 1000 °C for 1 h in nitrogen gas atmosphere. Especially, Fe-filled BN nanotubes were produced, and investigated by high-resolution electron microscopy, high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, which indicates that the [110] of Fe is parallel to the BN nanotube axis. Formation mechanism of Fe-filled BN nanotube was speculated based on these results.     

Nonchiral BN Haeckelite nanotubes

A new class of boron-nitrogen (BN) nanotubes composed of tetragons, pentagons, hexagons, heptagons, and octagons is considered. By analogy with carbon nanotubes of the same topological structure, these nanotubes were called Haeckelites. The geometry, energetics, and electronic properties were studied in detail for two regular mutual arrangements of the polygons. It was found that Haeckelite nanotubes are dielectrics with the energy gap E_g = 3.24–4.09 eV. As the nanotube diameter increases, the energy gap E_g decreases, approaching the value for the corresponding planar Haeckelite layer. The ground-state energy of the Haeckelite BN nanotubes is 0.3 eV/atom higher than that of well-known hexagonal BN nanotubes.     

Electronic structure of BN nanotubes with intrinsic defects NB and BN and isoelectronic substitutional impurities PN, AsN, SbN, InB, GaB, and AlB

The effect of intrinsic defects and isoelectronic substitutional impurities on the electronic structure of boron-nitride (BN) nanotubes is investigated using a linearized augmented cylindrical wave method and the local density functional and muffin-tin approximations for the electron potential. In this method, the electronic spectrum of a system is governed by a free movement of electrons in the interatomic space between cylindrical barriers and by a scattering of electrons from the atomic centers. Nanotubes with extended defects of substitution N_B of a boron atom by a nitrogen atom and, vice versa, nitrogen by boron B_N with one defect per one, two, and three unit cells are considered. It is shown that the presence of such defects significantly affects the band structure of the BN nanotubes. A defect band π(B, N) is formed in the optical gap, which reduces the width of the gap. The presence of impurities also affects the valence band: the widths of s, sp, and p_π bands change and the gap between s and sp bands is partially filled. A partial substitution of the N by P atoms leads to a decrease in the energy gap, to a separation of the Ds(P) band from the high-energy region of the s(B, N) band, as well as to the formation of the impurity Dπ(P) and Dπ*(P) bands, which form the valence-band top and conduction-band bottom in the doped system. The influence of partial substitution of N atoms by the As atom on the electronic structure of BN nanotubes is qualitatively similar to the case of phosphorus, but the optical gap becomes smaller. The optical gap of the BN tubule is virtually closed due to the effect of one Sb atom impurity per translational unit cell, in contrast to the weak indium-induced perturbation of the band structure of the BN nanotube. Introduction of the one In, Ga or Al atom per three unit cells of the (5, 5) BN nanotube results in 0.6 eV increase of the optical gap. The above effects can be detected by optical and photoelectron spectroscopy methods, as well as by measuring electrical properties of the pure and doped BN nanotubes. They can be used to design electronic devices based on BN nanotubes.     

高压对氮化硼纳米管的几何结构、电子结构和光学性质的影响

运用密度泛函理论平面波赝势方法(PWP)和广义梯度近似(GGA),计算研究了纳米管BN(5,5)在不同压力条件下的几何结构、电子结构和光学性质. 在高压条件下管口形状发生了较大的变化. 与闪锌矿结构BN比较分析发现两种结构间存在一些性质上的差异：首先,在外压力作用下,BN(5,5)纳米管的带隙随压力增大而减小,变化率为-0.01795eV/GPa,而闪锌矿结构BN随压力增大而增大;其次光吸收谱在压力条件下,没有和闪锌矿结构BN一样发生“蓝移”,相反在红外方向有所拓展;但纳米管BN(5,5)电子的转移方向和 关键词： 氮化硼纳米管 密度泛函理论(DFT) 电子结构     

Structural and electronic properties of composite BxCyNz nanotubes and heterojunctions

x C_yN_z nanotubes and related heterojunctions have been studied using both ab initio and semi-empirical approaches. Pure BN nanotubes present a very stable quasiparticle band gap around 5.5–6.0 eV independent of the tube radius and helicity. The bottom of the conduction bands is controlled by a nearly-free-electronn state localized inside the nanotube, suggesting interesting properties under doping. In the case of nanotubes with BC₂N stoichiometry, we show that in the thermodynamic limit the system is driven towards segregation of pure C and BN sections. This demixing significantly affects the electronic properties of such materials. The same process of segregation into BC₃ islands is evidenced in the case of B-doped carbon nanotubes. These spontaneous segregation processes lead to the formation of quantum dots or nanotube heterojunctions. In particular, C/BN superlattices or isolated junctions have been investigated as specific examples of the wide variety of electronic devices that can be realized using such nanotubes. Received: 27 November 1998 / Accepted: 14 December 1998     

Raman investigations of TiO2 nanotube substrates covered with thin Ag or Cu deposits

A tubular array of TiO₂ nanotubes on Ti matrix was used as a support for Ag or Cu sputter‐deposited layers intended for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) investigations. The composite samples of Ag/TiO₂–nanotube/Ti and Cu/TiO₂–nanotube/Ti were studied with the aid of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) [and scanning Auger microscopy (SAM)] to reveal their characteristic morphological and chemical features. Raman spectra of pyridine (as a probe molecule) were measured after it had been adsorbed on the TiO₂–nanotube/Ti substrates covered with thin Ag or Cu deposit as well as on the bulk electrochemically roughened Ag or Cu reference substrates. It was found that the SERS spectra measured for pyridine adsorbed on the bulk silver substrate were significantly different than the spectra measured on the TiO₂–nanotube/Ti substrates covered the Ag layer. The spectra measured for pyridine adsorbed on the Ag/TiO₂–nanotube/Ti suggest that on the surface of such a composite substrate there are many Lewis acidic sites. Spectra typical for pyridine adsorbed on acidic sites were observed even after deposition of a relatively thick silver layer (e.g. an Ag layer with an average thickness of 80 nm) on the TiO₂–nanotube/Ti support. Our findings suggest that TiO₂–nanotube/Ti support is a promising substrate for the preparation of metallic nano‐clusters on a support containing acidic active sites. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tamm states and quantum dots in carbon and heteroatomic nanotubes

The electronic structure of C-BN nanotubes is discussed in the π approximation. Two types of such structures with (n,0)-tubulet topology are investigated: 1) semiinfinite C-BN and C nanotubes and 2) C-BN nanotubes, consisting of two semiinfinite BN nanotubes coupled by a ring-shaped carbon fragment C_mn. It is shown that, in the first case, energy levels (Tamm levels) whose wave functions are localized on the terminal fragment can exist under certain conditions. In the second case, bound states localized on atoms of the carbon fragment exist. It is established that if a quite extended, cylindrical, carbon cluster is present at the end of a semiinfinite BN nanotube, then such a system can be viewed as a very simple model of a quantum dot. C-BN nanotubes where the carbon fragment couples two semiinfinite BN nanotubes can also be interpreted similarly. A simple analytic method is proposed for finding the Tamm energy levels in heteroatomic nanotubes. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 1515–1519 (August 1999)     

Potential energy,force distribution and oscillatory motion of chloride ion inside electrically charged carbon nanotubes

In this research, a continuum-based model is presented to explore potential energy, force distribution and oscillatory motion of ions, and in particular chloride ion, inside carbon nanotubes (CNTs) decorated by functional groups at two ends. To perform this, van der Waals (vdW) interactions between ion and nanotube are modeled by the 6-12 Lennard-Jones (LJ) potential, whereas the electrostatic interactions between ion and functional groups are modeled by the Coulomb potential and the total interactions are analytically derived by summing the vdW and electrostatic interactions. Making the assumption that carbon atoms and charge of functional groups are all uniformly distributed over the nanotube surface and the two ends of nanotube, respectively, a continuum approach is utilized to evaluate the related interactions. Based on the actual force distribution, the equation of motion is also solved numerically to arrive at the time history of displacement and velocity of inner core. With respect to the proposed formulations, comprehensive studies on the variations of potential energy and force distribution are carried out by varying functional group charge and nanotube length. Moreover, the effects of these parameters together with initial conditions on the oscillatory behavior of system are studied and discussed in detail. It is found out that chloride ion escapes more easily from negatively charged CNTs which is followed by uncharged and positively charged ones. It is further shown that the presence of functional groups leads to enhancing the operating frequency of such oscillatory systems especially when the electric charges of ion and functional groups have different signs.     

Atomic and electronic structures and thermal stability of boron-nitrogen nanopeapods: B<Subscript>12</Subscript>N<Subscript>12</Subscript> fullerenes in BN nanotubes

The atomic structures, energies of formation, electronic structures, and thermal stabilities (in the temperature range T = 0–3000 K) of novel hybrid boron-nitrogen nanostructures (so-called nanopeapods B₁₂N₁₂@BN-NT) are simulated using the self-consistent density functional tight-binding (DFTB) method. The B₁₂N₁₂@BN-NT nanopeapods are regular linear ensembles of B₁₂N₁₂ boron-nitrogen fullerenes encapsulated in boron-nitrogen nanotubes (BN-NT), such as the (14, 0) nonchiral zigzag BN nanotubes, the (8, 8) nonchiral armchair BN nanotubes, and the (12, 4) chiral BN nanotubes.     

Ab initio investigation of oxygen adsorption on the stability of carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNTFETs)

The influence of oxygen on carbon nanotube field effect transistors (CNTFETs) produced by the charge transfer doping technique, using triethyloxonium hexachloroantimonate ([ (C₂H₅)₃O]⁺[SbCl₆]^?) is reported. Using ab initio density functional theory (DFT), it is suggested that the adsorption of oxygen on the surface of a functionalized carbon nanotube (CNT) could influence both the chemical and electrical stability of this device. Reduced doping is also observed as a consequence of the oxygen adsorption, which could possibly result in a small increase in the Schottky barrier height (SBH) at the metal (source and drain) electrodes.     

Entropy-driven adsorption of carbon nanotubes on (0 0 1) and (1 1 1) surfaces of CeO2 islands grown on sapphire substrate

According to the aim to compose combinatorial material by adsorption of carbon nanotubes onto the structured CeO₂ surface the interaction of the armchair (5,5) and zigzag (8,0) nanotubes with the (0 0 1) and (1 1 1) surfaces of CeO₂ islands have been investigated by theoretical methods. The thermodynamics of the adsorption were studied at the low surface coverage region. The interaction energy between the nanotube and the different CeO₂ surfaces shows significant increase when the size of the interface reaches 7–8 unit cells of CeO₂ and it remains unchanged in the larger interface region. However, the entropy term of the adsorption is significantly high when the distances of CeO₂ islands are equal to 27 nm (adsorption of armchair (5,5) nanotube) or 32 nm (adsorption of zigzag (8,0) nanotube). This property supports adsorption of nanotubes onto CeO₂ surfaces which possesses a very specific surface morphology. A long-wave vibration of nanotubes was identified as background of this unexpected phenomenon. This observation could be applicable in the development of such procedures where the nanotube adsorption parallel to the surface is aimed to perform.     

Surface interactions of Au(I) cyclo-trimer with Au(111) and Al(111) surfaces: A computational study

A plane-wave density functional theory (DFT) study on surface interactions of a cyclo-[Au(μ-Pz)]₃ monolayer (denoted as T), Pz = pyrazolate, with Au(111) and Al(111) surfaces (denoted as M′) has been performed. Structural and electronic properties at the M′–T interfaces are determined from individually optimized structures of M′, T and M′–T. Results show that the gold pyrazolate trimer (T) binds more strongly on the Au(111) surface than on Al(111). Charge redistribution has been observed at both M′–T interfaces, where charge is “pushed” back towards the Au(111) surface from the trimer monolayer in Au(111)–T system, while the opposite happens in the Al(111)–T system where the charge is being pushed toward the trimer monolayer from the Al(111) surface. Considerable changes to the work function of Au(111) and Al(111) surfaces upon the trimer adsorption which arise from monolayer vacuum level shifts and dipole formation at the interfaces are calculated. The interaction between cyclo-[Au(μ-Pz)]₃ with metal surfaces causes band broadening of the gold pyrazolate trimer in M′–T systems. The present study aids better understanding of the role of intermolecular interactions, bond dipoles, energy-level alignment and electronic coupling at the interface of metal electrodes and organometallic semiconductor to help design metal–organic field effect transistors (MOFETs) and other organometallic electronic devices.     

Sensing properties of BN nanotube toward carcinogenic 4-chloroaniline: A computational study

The viability of using a BN nanotube for detection of para-chloroaniline molecule was studied by means of density functional theory calculations. The results indicate that the molecule prefers to be adsorbed on the intrinsic BN nanotube from its N atom, releasing energy of 0.65 eV without significant effect on the electrical conductivity of the tube. Thus, para-chloroaniline cannot be detected using this intrinsic nanotube. To overcome this problem, a nitrogen atom of the tube wall was replaced by a Si atom. It was shown that the Si-doped tube not only can adsorb the molecule strongly, but also may detect its presence because of the drastic increase of the electrical conductivity of the tube.     

Thermal conductivity and heat capacity of Si3N4/BN fiber monoliths

This paper reports on measurements within the 5–300-K temperature interval of the thermal conductivity of Si₃N₄ and BN polycrystalline ceramic samples and Si₃N₄/BN fiber monoliths (FM) with different fiber arrangement architecture, [0], [90], and [0/90], with fibers arranged, accordingly, along and across the sample axis and the [0] and [90] layers stacked alternately. In the 3.5–300-K interval, the heat capacity at constant pressure, and at 77 K, the sound velocity have been measured in polycrystalline Si₃N₄ and BN samples and in Si₃N₄/BN [0] fiber monoliths. Our studies suggest that, with a high enough degree of confidence, but for some compositions—with minor assumptions, it can be maintained that, in the case of the Si₃N₄/BN fiber monoliths, one can use for calculation of their thermal conductivities and heat capacities within certain temperature intervals simple models considering mixtures of the Si₃N₄ and BN components with due account of their contributions to formation of the Si₃N₄/BN FM. It has been established that in the low-temperature domain (5–25 K), phonons in Si₃N₄/BN [0], [90], and [0/90] fiber monoliths scatter primarily from dislocations. This effect is not observed in ceramic Si₃N₄ and BN samples. The experimental data obtained on the thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and sound velocity have been used to calculate phonon mean free path lengths in polycrystalline Si₃N₄ and BN samples and the effective mean free path length in the Si₃N₄/BN [0] FM.     

A study on photo-generated charges property in highly ordered TiO2 nanotube arrays

In this study TiO₂ nanotube arrays were fabricated by potentiostatic anodization of titanium sheet. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) image indicated the TiO₂ nanotube arrays were of pure anatase form and highly ordered. The properties of the photo-generated charges in the nanotube arrays were investigated by transient photovoltage (TPV) technique and surface photovoltage (SPV) technique based on lock-in amplifier with dc bias, in comparison with the commercial powder derived film. The separation processes of the photo-induced charges in the system of TiO₂ nanotubes on Ti have been demonstrated to be correlated with the incident light intensity, surface trapping states, and the interfacial electric field between Ti and TiO₂. The results also show that the highly ordered nanotube film could generate much stronger SPV responses under external electric field than the commercial powder derived film.     

Negative differential resistance in a carbon nanotube-based molecular junction

By applying non-equilibrium Green's function formalism combined with first-principles density functional theory, we have investigated the electronic transport properties of a carbon nanotube-based molecular junction with different terminations (H-, C- and N-). The results show that the different terminations at the carbon nanotube ends strongly affect the transport properties of the junction. The current through the N-terminated carbon nanotube junction is significant larger than that through the H- and C-terminated junctions at low biases. Moreover, negative differential resistance behaviors can be observed in the N-terminated carbon nanotube junction, whereas not in the other two cases.