Organolithium complex as a gas sensing material for oxides from ab initio calculations and molecular dynamics simulations

Gas sensing study of C₂H₄Li complex toward oxides viz. CO, CO₂, NO, NO₂, SO, and SO₂ gas molecules has been carried out using ab initio method. Different possible configurations of gas molecule adsorption on C₂H₄Li complex are considered. The structural parameters of most stable configuration of gas molecule adsorbed complexes are thoroughly analysed. Electronic properties are studied using total density of states (DOS) plot. Charge transferred between the gas molecule and the substrate is studied using NBO charge analysis. Gas sensing of all the six gas molecules is possible at ambient conditions. Atom centred density matrix propagation (ADMP) molecular dynamics simulations confirmed that all the gas molecules remain adsorbed on C₂H₄Li complex at room temperature during the simulation. This study suggests that the C₂H₄Li complex acts as a novel gas sensing material for CO, CO₂, NO, NO₂, SO, and SO₂ gas molecules at ambient conditions, below room temperature as well as at high pressure.