Theoretical investigation on electronic properties and carrier mobilities of BN-substituted graphyne nanoribbons

Potential application of pristine and Al-doped graphyne-like BN nanosheet for detection of anticancer fluorouracil drug

We studied the potential application of the pristine and Al-doped graphyne-like BN nanosheets (Al-BN-yne) in 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) drug detection using DFT calculations. The 5-FU drug preferentially adsorbed via its oxygen atom on the B atom of pristine BN-yne with adsorption energy of - 11.7 kcal/mol and no effect on its electronic properties. Replacing a B atom by an Al atom significantly increased the sensitivity and reactivity of BN-yne to the 5-FU drug. Upon the 5-FU interaction with the Al-BN-yne, an energy of 20.3 kcal/mol is released, and the E_g of Al-BN-yne significantly decreased from 4.83 to 3.80 eV, increasing the electrical conductance. Thus, the Al-BN-yne sheet can generate an electronic signal after the 5-FU drug adsorption, being a promising electronic sensor for 5-FU detection. We predicted that the recovery time for 5-FU drug desorption from the Al-BN-yne sheet surface is 0.07 s, demonstrating that it benefits from a short recovery time.

A computational study on the BN-yne sheet application in the Na-ion batteries

Although Li-ion batteries are extensively applied, short lifetime, high cost, and safety problems limit their application. Na-ion batteries (NIB) might be an alternative to the Li-ion owing to wide availability, low cost, and nontoxicity of Na. Here, we performed density functional theory calculations to investigate the possible application of a graphyne-like BN layer (BN-yne) in the anode of NIBs. The adsorption energies of Na and Na⁺ on the BN-yne are predicted to be -15.3 and -54.6 kcal/mol, respectively. It was found that the maximum barrier energy for migration of Na atom and Na⁺ ion through BN-yne surface is about 20.2 and 16.5 kcal/mol, respectively. The calculated cell voltage for the BN-yne are predicted to be and 1.70 V. Using an electric field of -0.02 a. u. much more strengthens the interaction of Na⁺ with the BN-yne compared to the Na atom, increasing the cell voltage of NIB to 2.10 eV. We showed that a high Na storage capacity (Na₄B₂N₂), high cell voltage and diffusion ability of BN-yne make it a promising candidate for the NIB anode material.