Spin-polarized Density Functional Theory Research Articles

Computational study on the impact of Nb doping on electronic structure, magnetic and optical properties of hexagonal bilayer BN

We investigate the impact of Niobium (Nb) doping on the electronic structure, and magnetic and optical properties of the bilayer hexagonal boron nitride (BL hBN) using spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT). The calculated values of formation energy reveal the structural stability of Nb-doped BL hBN. The structural parameter analysis indicates the bond length and lattices constant of BL hBN increase due to Nb doping. In addition, it is found that the energy band gap of BL hBN is reduced from 5.1 eV to 3.9 eV due to 5.5% of Nb doping. Moreover, the obtained magnetic moment of 2 μ B and 4 μ B for Nb concentrations of 5.55% and 11.11% respectively, indicate the turning of the paramagnetic behavior of pure BL hBN to ferromagnetic. Besides, we have also found that the first and second nearest neighboring (NN) magnetic interaction between two dopants (Nb atoms) is ferromagnetic. Whereas, the third nearest neighbor interaction is antiferromagnetic. More interestingly, using mean field theory together with spin-polarized DFT ferromagnetic transition temperature (T c ) of 367 K is obtained for 11.11% of Nb-doped BL hBN. Furthermore, a significant enhancement of the absorption coefficient due to Nb doping in both the visible and mid-to-far-infrared regions was observed. Based on those results, we suggest that Nb-doped BL hBN is a good candidate material for nanoelectronics, spintronics, and optoelectronics applications.

Theoretical identification of the superior anchoring effect and electrochemical performance of Ti2CS2 by single atom Zn doping for lithium-sulfur batteries.

As one of the promising next-generation energy storage systems, lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have been the subject of much recent attention. However, the polysulfide shuttle effect remains problematic owing to the dissolution of intermediate polysulfide species in the electrolyte and the sluggish reaction dynamics in Li-S batteries. To overcome these issues, this work reports an effective strategy for enhancing the electrochemical performance of Li-S batteries using single atom Zn doping on the S-terminated Ti2C MXenes (Ti2-xZnxCS2). Spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to elucidate the interactions of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) and the Ti2-xZnxCS2 surface in terms of geometric and electronic properties, as well as the delithiation process of Li2S on the Ti2-xZnxCS2 surface. It is found that doping single atom Zn could induce a new Lewis acid-based sites, which could provide proper affinity toward LiPSs. Combined with the metallic character, a low Li diffusion barrier and high catalytic activity for the delithiation process of Li2S, makes Ti2-xZnxCS2 a promising cathode material for Li-S batteries. The results demonstrate the importance of surface chemistry and the electronic structure of MXenes in LiPSs' adsorption and catalysis capability. We believe that our findings provide insights into the recent experimental results and guidance for the preparation and practical application of MXenes in Li-S batteries.

Hydrogen-migration governed dynamic magnetic coupling characteristics in nitrogen-vacancy-hydrogen nanodiamonds.

The nitrogen-vacancy center doped with hydrogen (NVH) is one of the most common defects in diamonds, and the doping of hydrogen is known to enable mobility among three equivalent C-radicals in the defect, which noticeably affects the spin coupling among the radicals. Here, we for the first time uncover the dynamic nature of magnetic coupling induced by H-migration in the NVH center of nanodiamonds, using spin-polarized density functional theory calculations and enhanced sampling metadynamics simulations. The mobility of doping H enables the interior NVH region to become a variable magnetic space (antiferromagnetic/AFM versus ferromagnetic/FM). That is, the dynamic H has three frequently reachable binding C sites where H enables the center to exhibit variable AFM coupling (high up to J = -1282 cm-1) and that in other H-reachable regions including N sites, it enables the center to exhibit FM coupling (high up to J = 598 cm-1). The magnetic switching (AFM ↔ FM) and strength fluctuation strongly depend on the H-position which can adjust the ratio of the C radical orbitals in their mixing orbitals for a special three-electron three-center covalent C⋯H⋯C H-bonding and radical orbital distributions. Clearly, this work provides insights into the dynamic switching of magnetic coupling in such multi-radical centers of defect nanodiamonds.

Adsorption of singlet and triplet oxygen on B-doped graphene: adsorption and electronic characteristics.

The density functional calculations of electronic and structural properties of the adsorption of dioxygen on boron-doped graphene surfaces are conducted using spin-polarized density functional theory methods, including van der Waals correction. The results show significant differences in the adsorption characteristics of singlet and triplet oxygen on boron-doped graphene surfaces. Both triplet and singlet show only weak attraction to intrinsic and singly doped graphene. The singlet oxygen adsorption on doped graphene shows fascinating features involving chemisorption with dioxetane ring formation with appreciable charge transfer. In contrast, the triplet oxygen is only weakly physisorbed on the boron-doped surfaces. Chemisorption of singlet oxygen occurs with noticeable charge transfer and leads to almost featureless band structures, while the triplet oxygen physisorption proceeds with a well-defined band structure. Chemisorption of the singlet oxygen is attributed to the enormous mixing of π* of dioxygen and the p-orbitals of dopant and carbon. Because of the difference in adsorption characteristics, chemically modified graphene can find use in detecting and trapping singlet oxygen, which has potential applications in photodynamic therapy.

CO adsorption on MgO thin-films: formation and interaction of surface charged defects.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials formed by thin-films of metal oxides that grow on metal supports are commonly used in heterogeneous catalysis and multilayer electronic devices. Despite extensive research on these systems, the effects of charged defects at supported oxides on surface processes are still not clear. In this work, we perform spin-polarized density-functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate formation and interaction of charged magnesium and oxygen vacancies, and Al dopants on MgO(001)/Ag(001) surface. The results show a sizable interface compressive effect that decreases the metal work function as electrons are added on the MgO surface with a magnesium vacancy. This surface displays a larger formation energy in a water environment (O-rich condition) even with additional Al-doping. Under these conditions, we found that a polar molecule such as CO is more strongly adsorbed on the low-coordination oxygen sites due to a larger contribution of the channeled electronic transport with the silver interface regardless of the surface charge. Therefore, these findings elucidate how surface intrinsic vacancies can influence or contribute to charge transfer, which allows one to explore more specific reactions at different surface topologies for more efficient catalysts for CO2 conversion.

Electronic and Magnetic Properties of K2Mn3S4

Many opto-electronic and energy efficient devices depend on semiconductors’ direct as well as indirect band gap. Using spin-polarized density functional theory approach, we calculate the electronic structure and magnetic properties of K2Mn3S4. We found that this system has a ferrimagnetic ground state with a saturated magnetic moment of 10μB per unit cell. This was mostly caused by the antiferromagnetic interaction between the Mn (I) and Mn (II) atoms, with individual magnetic moment of 4.2 μB and 4.1 μB, respectively. More significantly, from the density of states and band structure calculations, K2Mn3S4 is noted as a semiconductor with an indirect band gap of 1.1 eV between the top of the valence band of spin up channel and bottom of the conduction bands of spin down channel, indicating the material as a promising candidate for photovoltaic and opto-electronic devices.

First-principles assessments of the electronic, and magneto-optical characteristics of Fe–Mn co-doped anatase TiO2 for photo-catalysis applications

First principles modeling is conducted to scrutinize the structural, chemical, electronic structures, bonding character, and magneto-optical features of intrinsic or pure anatase TiO2, Fe or Mn single-atom doped, and Mn–Fe diatom co-doped anatase TiO2 systems, respectively. Herein, the spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) concerted with the on-site Hubbard (U) correction scheme for the Coulomb interaction, is utilized for the exchange-correlation term, as the generalized gradient approximation (GGA)+U. The spin-polarized density of states of Mn mono-atom doped anatase TiO2 material indicated a magnetic semiconductor attribute for both down/up spin components. Conversely, the outcome spin-polarized density of states of both Fe-doped and Mn–Fe co-doped anatase TiO2 materials illustrated the emergence of an intermediate band behavior. Accordingly, three magnetic impurity bands are produced in Mn–Fe co-doped anatase TiO2, the first two spin-up bands are located just uppermost the valence states nearby the Fermi level and the third spin-up/down band is lying far from the Fermi level just below the minimum conduction band. Interestingly, the spin-polarized charge density displayed an orbital ordering between the O 2p-orbitals and 3d-orbitals of Mn–Fe doped diatoms in the host TiO2 anatase system. The valuable optical ingredients, such as the optical absorption coefficient, refractive index, reflectivity spectra, optical conductivity, and electron energy loss function, are inspected and discussed. Moreover, the optical absorption coefficient characteristics of the mono-doped Mn/Fe and Mn–Fe co-doped TiO2 anatase structure displayed a relocation in the absorption feature edges towards the visible electromagnetic radiation regime. This means that the induced impurity bands delineate the essential contributor for boosting the catalytic activity in the visible light. It is expected that the Fe–Mn co-doped anatase TiO2 system could be a compelling candidate for its ultimate use in the photo-catalysts or magnetic storage devices.

Superlattices of Gadolinium and Bismuth Based Thallium Dichalcogenides as Potential Magnetic Topological Insulators.

Using relativistic spin-polarized density functional theory calculations we investigate magnetism, electronic structure and topology of the ternary thallium gadolinium dichalcogenides TlGdZ2 (Z= Se and Te) as well as superlattices on their basis. We find TlGdZ2 to have an antiferromagnetic exchange coupling both within and between the Gd layers, which leads to frustration and a complex magnetic structure. The electronic structure calculations reveal both TlGdSe2 and TlGdTe2 to be topologically trivial semiconductors. However, as we show further, a three-dimensional (3D) magnetic topological insulator (TI) state can potentially be achieved by constructing superlattices of the TlGdZ2/(TlBiZ2)n type, in which structural units of TlGdZ2 are alternated with those of the isomorphic TlBiZ2 compounds, known to be non-magnetic 3D TIs. Our results suggest a new approach for achieving 3D magnetic TI phases in such superlattices which is applicable to a large family of thallium rare-earth dichalcogenides and is expected to yield a fertile and tunable playground for exotic topological physics.

Ground-State Spin Dynamics in d1 Kagome-Lattice Titanium Fluorides.

Many quantum magnetic materials suffer from structural imperfections. The effects of structural disorder on bulk properties are difficult to assess systematically from a chemical perspective due to the complexities of chemical synthesis. The recently reported S = 1/2 kagome lattice antiferromagnet, (CH3NH3)2NaTi3F12, 1-Ti, with highly symmetric kagome layers and disordered interlayer methylammonium cations, shows no magnetic ordering down to 0.1 K. To study the impact of structural disorder in the titanium fluoride kagome compounds, (CH3NH3)2KTi3F12, 2-Ti, was prepared. It presents no detectable structural disorder and only a small degree of distortion of the kagome lattice. The methylammonium disorder model of 1-Ti and order in 2-Ti were confirmed by atomic-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The antiferromagnetic interactions and band structures of both compounds were calculated based on spin-polarized density functional theory and support the magnetic structure analysis. Three spin-glass-like (SGL) transitions were observed in 2-Ti at 0.5, 1.4, and 2.3 K, while a single SGL transition can be observed in 1-Ti at 0.8 K. The absolute values of the Curie-Weiss temperatures of both 1-Ti (-139.5(7) K) and 2-Ti (-83.5(7) K) are larger than the SGL transition temperatures, which is indicative of geometrically frustrated spin glass (GFSG) states. All the SGL transitions are quenched with an applied field >0.1 T, which indicates novel magnetic phases emerge under small applied magnetic fields. The well-defined structure and the lack of structural disorder in 2-Ti suggest that 2-Ti is an ideal model compound for studying GFSG states and the potential transitions between spin liquid and GFSG states.

Synergetic effects of combining TM single- and double-atom catalysts embedded in C2N on inducing half-metallicity: DFT study

Designing 2D-materials that exhibit half-metallic properties is crucially important in spintronic devices that are used in low-power high-density logic circuits. The large pores in the C2N morphology can stably accommodate various configurations of transition-metal (TM) atoms that can lead to ferromagnetic (FMC) and anti-ferromagnetic coupling interactions among them, and thus paving the way for achieving half-metallic characteristics. In the present study, we use manganese ‘Mn’ as a promising catalyst and the spin-polarized density-functional theory to search for suitable configurations of metal atoms that yield half-metallicity. Test samples comprised of single-atom catalyst (SAC) and double-atom catalyst (DAC) of Mn embedded in a C2N sample of size 2 × 2 primitive cells as well as their combinations in neighboring large pores (i.e. SAC–SAC, SAC–DAC, and DAC–DAC). Tests were extended to screen many other TM catalysts and the results showed the existence of half metallicity in just five cases: (a) C2N:Mn (DAC, SAC–SAC, and SAC–DAC); (b) C2N:Fe (DAC); and (c) C2N:Ni (SAC–DAC). Our results further showed the origins of half-metallicity to be attributed to FMC interactions between the catalysts with the six mirror images, formed by the periodic-boundary conditions. The FMC interaction is found to have strength of about 20 meV and critical length scale up to about ∼21–29 Å, dependent on both the type of magnetic impurity and the synergetic effects. The potential relevance of half-metallicity to spintronic device application is discussed. Our theoretical results have been benchmarked to the available data in literature and they were found to be in good agreements.

Defect-rich graphene skin modified carbon felt as a highly enhanced electrode for vanadium redox flow batteries

Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) with high energy density, long cycle life, flexible design and rapid response have attracted great attention in large-scale energy storage applications. However, the low activity of traditional carbon felt electrodes severely limits its practical implementation. Herein, we report the fabrication of modified carbon felt (CF) by coating defect-rich graphene through chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and subsequent Ar plasma treatment as a highly improved electrode (denoted as Ar-GCF) for VRFB. The modification of defect-rich graphene skin can not only expose a large number of graphene edges as highly active sites, but also offers copious oxygen-containing functional groups to improve the electronic conductivity of Ar-GCF and accelerate the VO2+/VO2+ redox, which are demonstrated by both electrochemical measurements and spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) calculations. As a result, the VRFB with Ar-GCF electrode exhibited an improved energy efficiency (EE) by 7.10% compared with that of VRFB using an unmodified CF electrode. Moreover, the Ar-GCF electrode showed excellent stability, with the charge transfer resistance (Rct) increased by merely 15.79% after 800 cycles, while the Rct of CF electrode increased by 102.40% after 600 cycles.

Photocatalytic Dye Decomposition over CaMnO3−δ and Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3: A Combined XPS and DFT Study

In the field of environmental sustainability, the development of highly efficient photocatalytic under a wide wavelength range with band engineering is regarded as a promising strategy to enhance photocatalytic dye degradation. Here, we report on CaMnO3−δ and Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 perovskite materials prepared by a sol-gel combustion method. From X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the particle surfaces of both compounds are oxygen deficient, while the surface hydroxyl and carbonyl groups’ adsorption on the surface of Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 particles is more pronounced. FT-FIR spectroscopy has been used to investigate the covalent bonds and oxygen vacancy characteristics. Photocatalytic activities were investigated by the degradation of methylene blue and methyl orange under UV light. It was observed that both dye molecules are more degraded over CaMnO3−δ. The underlying mechanisms behind the photoexcitation and degradation process are established via the Spin-polarized Density Functional Theory (DFT).

Carbon-supported CoS4-C single-atom nanozyme for dramatic improvement in CO2 electroreduction to HCOOH: A DFT study combined with hybrid solvation model

Single-atom nanozymes (SANs) have attracted extensive attention due to their characteristics of both single-atom catalysts (SACs) and enzymes. Using spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) calculations combined with the hybrid solvation model, this work designed a series of carbon-supported Group VIII transition metals TMS4-C SANs, similar to the TMS4 active center of formate dehydrogenase (FADH), aiming to develop highly efficient SANs for CO2 electroreduction. DFT calculations show that compared with TMN4-C, TMS4-C have FADH-like feature, which can selectively reduce CO2 to formic acid. Particularly, CoS4-C is the most promising SAN for CO2 reduction, with a low limiting potential of -0.07 V, which exceeds most reported catalysts. Two descriptors of TMX4-C (X = N, S) based on intrinsic and electronic structure properties were proposed to shed light on the origin activity of candidates. The findings presented here will provide new insights into the design of novel enzyme-like catalysts for electrochemical CO2 reduction.

Two-Dimensional Transition Metal-Hexaaminobenzene Monolayer Single-Atom Catalyst for Electrocatalytic Carbon Dioxide Reduction.

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to valuable fuels and chemicals can not only alleviate the energy crisis but also improve the atmospheric environment. The key is to develop electrocatalysts that are extremely stable, efficient, selective, and reasonably priced. In this study, spin-polarized density function theory (DFT) calculations were used to comprehensively examine the catalytic efficacy of transition metal-hexaaminobenzene (TM-HAB) monolayers as single-atom catalysts for the electroreduction of CO2. In the modified two-dimensional TM-HAB monolayer, our findings demonstrate that the binding of individual metal atoms to HAB can be strong enough for the atoms to be evenly disseminated and immobilized. In light of the conflicting hydrogen evolution processes, TM-HAB effectively inhibits hydrogen evolution. CH4 dominates the reduction byproducts of Sc, Ti, V, Cr, and Cu. HCOOH makes up the majority of Zn's reduction products. Co's primary reduction products are CH3OH and CH4, whereas Mn and Fe's primary reduction products are HCHO, CH3OH, and CH4. Among these, the Ti-HAB reduction products have a 1.14 eV limiting potential and a 1.31 V overpotential. The other monolayers have relatively low overpotentials between 0.01 V and 0.7 V; therefore, we predict that TM-HAB monolayers will exhibit strong catalytic activity in the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2, making them promising electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction.

A computational insight into the intrinsic, Si-decorated and vacancy-defected γ-graphyne nanoribbon towards adsorption of CO2 and O2 molecules

In this study, the effects of decorating a silicon (Si) atom and applying a single vacancy defect on an armchair γ-graphyne nanoribbon (A-γ-GyNR) are investigated toward CO2 and O2 molecules adsorption. The magnetic and electronic transport properties, including the calculation of adsorption energy, charge transfer, magnetic moment, band structure, phonon dispersion and density of state (DOS), have been studied using the spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) method. The stability of the proposed substrates is measured and different positions for gas molecules are considered. The results reveal that the highest amounts of adsorption energy of CO2 (0.63 eV) and O2 (2.2 eV) molecules belong to the substrate decorated with the Si atom in the 12-membered ring (H1) and acetylene linkage (B3), respectively. In addition, the removal of a carbon atom with sp hybridization improves the O2 molecule adsorption by 3.34 times compared to the primary substrate (P-GyNR). According to the recovery time calculations, the most appropriate desorption time is related to T1-M1 model. The current–voltage characteristic confirms that the resistance of the introduced sensors fully changed after sensing. This work can be considered as an effective step toward understanding and developing A-γ-GyNR-based gas sensors.

Efficient reduction of hexavalent chromium with microscale Fe/Cu bimetals: Efficiency and the role of Cu

Microscale zero valent iron (mFe0) is one of the most potential water pollution remediation materials, but the effective utilization ability of electrons released by mFe0 in the reduction of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is not satisfactory. Here, we find the microscale iron-copper (mFe/Cu) bimetals coated with copper on the surface of mFe0 can significantly improve the effective utilization of electrons released by mFe0. Electrochemical analysis displays that copper plating on the surface of mFe/Cu can promote the release the electrons from mFe0 and reduce the impedance of mFe0. Spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) calculation reveals that Cu on the surface of mFe/Cu bimetals promotes the release of electrons from mFe0 and reduces the adsorption energy of Fe to Cr. As the electron transporter, moreover, Cu can always attract Cr to the hollow position near itself of the Fe surface, which could promote the effective utilization of electrons released by Fe. Effective utilization ability of electrons in mFe/Cu system is 12.5 times higher than that in mFe0 system. Our findings provide another basis for the efficient reduction of Cr(VI) by mFe/Cu bimetals, which could promote the application and popularization of mFe/Cu bimetals.

Understanding Trends in the NO Oxidation Activity of Single‐Atom Catalysts

Nitric oxide (NO) emitted by coal-fired power plants causes severe environmental pollution. Catalytic oxidation of NO to NO2 is a promising technology to reduce NO pollution. However, the NO oxidation capacities of conventional catalysts were usually insufficient at a low temperature due to the difficulty to activate molecular oxygen (O2). Herein, single-atom catalysts (SACs) with high O2 activation capacities are proposed for NO oxidation. To design optimal SACs, we explicitly analyzed eight 3d transition metal SACs using spin-polarized density functional theory calculations with van der Waals corrections (DFT+D3), transition state analysis, scaling relation analysis, reaction descriptor analysis, and microkinetic modeling. For the first time, we derived a volcano-shaped microkinetic model to unravel the activity trends in the NO oxidation of SACs as a function of oxygen adsorption energy. This model shows that a Fe1-N4-C structure possesses the best performance for NO oxidation among the 75 analyzed SACs, in excellent agreement with recent pioneering experimental studies. Based on this volcano model, we screened the rest of the SACs with a Metal1-N4-C structure and provided important design guidelines for NO oxidation catalysts.

(Digital Presentation) Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Ru1-XMxO2 (M = Ti, Zr, Nb, Ta, Cr) Doped Catalysts: Activity and Stability Effects

The complex reaction mechanisms and dissolution pathways that drive oxygen evolution reaction on metal and metal oxide surfaces under acidic conditions challenge the development of a highly active, highly stable, and low cost catalyst for proton-exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolyzers. Currently, ruthenium-based materials present lower overpotentials, lower cost and higher global supply compared to iridium-based materials, though they are also considerably less stable. In order to elucidate a way to improve RuO2 stability under the harsh conditions during water electrolysis, we use a density functional theory (DFT) approach to investigate the effects on catalyst structure, OER activity and stability of transition metal substitution within Ru1-xMxO2 (M = Ti, Zr, Nb, Ta, Cr) at different atomic concentrations. Calculations show that M substitution within rutile RuO2 affects the electronic structure resulting in regions of electron accumulation and depletion at the surface and shifts the Ru d-band and O2p band centers, which are highly dependent on dopant characteristics and doped site. Moreover, dissolution calculations on the Ru1-xTixO2 surfaces show that Ti substitution alter the metal dissolution pathway energetics and thermodynamics bringing stability to the catalyst in terms of reducing material loss. Theoretical XRD patterns, Ru d-band and O p-band center calculations, and activation and reaction energy trends are in excellent agreement with experimental results that includes X-ray diffraction analysis, high resolution transmission electron microscopy images, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of core and valence bands, and rotating disk electrode measurements. In this presentation, we focus on the theoretical and computational aspects. The evaluation of the thermodynamics and kinetics of the water splitting, and oxygen evolution mechanism is done with spin-polarized plane-wave DFT calculations, while Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics (AIMD) simulations allow following and complementing the understanding of the dynamics of the initial steps of water dissociation on the various M and Ru sites. Electronic structure changes on the surface due to the presence of M before and during the reaction are analyzed based on the density of states and local magnetic moments, and the activation energies are obtained from the climbing Nudge Elastic Band method. Dissolution calculations are carried out with constrained-AIMD simulations using the slow-growth approach within the “Bluemoon ensemble” as implemented in VASP.

Ab initio prediction of half-metallicity in the NaMnZ2 (Z = S, Se, Te) ternary layered compounds

Motivated by recent theoretical studies predicting half-metallicity in some ternary manganese chalcogenides, first-principles calculations based on spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) are applied to investigate the structural, elastic, electronic and magnetic properties of the ternary layered compounds NaMnZ2 (Z = S, Se, Te). We assume for all compounds the experimentally determined, in the case of NaMnSe2 and NaMnTe2 compounds, noncentrosymmetric trigonal structure (space group P3m1; no. 156). The analysis of spin-polarized band structures and of the diagrams of density of states reveals the half-metallic character of the considered materials. We find that the strong spin polarization of the d orbitals of the manganese atoms is at the origin of the ferromagnetism of these compounds with a total magnetic moment per formula unit of 4μB. The studied compounds show a Slater-Pauling behavior and the total spin magnetic moment per cell (Mt) evolves with the total number of valence electrons (Zt) according to the lawMt=(Zt−22)μB. The calculated values of the minority-spin energy gap (Eg) and of the half-metallic gap (EHM) for the explored materials show that they are promising compounds for spintronic applications.

Interactions of amine functional group with Stone-Wales defects on single-walled carbon nanotubes: A theoretical study

Spin-polarized density functional theory has been used to investigate the functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) with and without a Stone-Wales (SW) defect by amine (NH2) functional group. The reactivity of SW defects is compared to that of the pristine sidewalls of (5,0), (8,0), and (13,0) SWNT. Our calculations demonstrate that the adsorption of NH2 on SW defect sites is more energetically favorable than that on pristine SWNT sidewalls. All SW defect sites, and particularly the site S1, were considered low-energy adsorption sites for the functionalization process. Furthermore, the binding between the amine group and SW-SWNT is improved for tubes with smaller diameters. The adsorption of NH2 groups on defect sites has a significant influence on the electronic properties of SWNT, changing the electronic states around the Fermi level and converting nonmagnetic semiconductor SWNT to magnetic nanotubes, which is beneficial for the electrical conductivity.