Aluminium phosphide (Al12P12) nanocage as a potential sensor for volatile organic compounds: A DFT study.

Abstract

The efficacy of aluminium phosphide (Al12P12) nanocage toward sensing methanol (MeOH) and ethanol (EtOH) volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was herein thoroughly elucidated utilizing various density functional theory (DFT) computations. In this perspective, MeOH⋯ and EtOH⋯Al12P12 complexes were investigated within all plausible configurations. According to the energetic features, the EtOH⋯Al12P12 complexes exhibited larger negative values of adsorption and interaction energies with values up to -27.23 and -32.84 kcal mol-1, respectively, in comparison to the MeOH⋯Al12P12 complexes. Based on the symmetry-adapted perturbation theory (SAPT) results, the electrostatic forces were pinpointed as the predominant component beyond the adsorption process within the preferable MeOH⋯ and EtOH⋯Al12P12 complexes. The findings of the noncovalent interaction (NCI) index and quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) outlined the closed-shell nature of the interactions within the studied complexes. Substantial variations were found in the molecular orbitals distribution patterns of MeOH/EtOH molecules and Al12P12 nanocage, outlining the occurrence of the adsorption process within the complexes under investigation. Thermodynamic parameters were denoted with negative values, demonstrating the spontaneous exothermic nature of the most favorable complexes. New energy states were observed within the extracted density of states plots, confirming the impact of adsorbing MeOH and EtOH molecules on the electronic properties of the Al12P12 nanocage. The appearance of additional peaks in Infrared Radiation (IR) and Raman spectra revealed the apparent effect of the adsorption process on the features of the utilized sensor. The emerging results declared the potential uses of Al12P12 nanocage as a promising candidate for sensing VOCs, particularly MeOH and EtOH.