Unravelling the adsorption performance of BN, AlN, GaN and InN 2D nanosheets towards the ciclopirox, 5-fluorouracil and nitrosourea for anticancer drug delivery motive: A DFT-D with QTAIM, PCM and COSMO investigations

DFT study of Ti3C2 MXene nanosheets as a drug delivery system for 5-fluorouracil

In this study, we modeled a drug delivery system consisting of Ti3C2 MXene nanosheets as a carrier and 5-fluorouracil (FU) as a selected drug molecule using density functional theory (DFT) computations. During the adsorption procedure, electronic, magnetic and structural properties were calculated. Our results showed that the adsorption of FU drugs on the Ti3C2 surface is thermodynamically favorable. Our spin-polarized calculations also determined that the magnetization of Ti3C2 after FU adsorption does not change significantly, which is an important factor for magnetic hyperthermia and drug delivery. In addition, our calculations indicate that in the slightly acidic environment of tumor tissue, FU could start to be released (by increasing distance from the MXene surface and then instability of the complex) from the Ti3C2 surface without any substantial change in the structural properties. This study could provide a deep understanding of the interaction mechanism of 2-dimensional (2D) MXene materials with drugs at the atomistic scale and have an important contribution to the discovery and application of novel 2D materials as drug delivery systems.

Exploring the anodic performance of ScSeS and TiSeS monolayers of modified transition metal dichalcogenides for Mg ion batteries via DFT calculations

Due to the significant ambient abundance of magnesium metal and the divalent nature of the magnesium ion, rechargeable magnesium-ion batteries are a strong candidate to fulfill the forthcoming demands for electrical energy storage in both extensive mobile and stationary applications. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are still regarded as newcomers within the realm of 2D nanomaterials, particularly in the context of their applications in energy storage. Here, we report a DFT-based analysis on TMDs as anode materials in Mg ion batteries using the GGA-PBE exchange-correlation functional. This study investigates the structural, electronic and adsorption behavior of ScSeS and TiSeS nanosheets. All predicted TMDs adsorbed Mg-atoms with favorable adsorption energy (Eads) without any noticeable structural distortion, exhibiting good structural stability. For three distinct adsorption sites, top of the transition metal (Sc, Ti), Se and S, the Eads are calculated as -3.74 eV, -3.62 eV, -3.40 eV and -1.23 eV, -1.38 eV, -0.91 eV, which indicates that Eads is higher when the Mg ion is adsorbed at the Sc and Se atomic sites, respectively. The Eads for ScSeS are almost two times the Eads for TiSeS. In the band structure, it is seen that for both ScSeS and TiSeS, the conduction band crosses the Fermi level, which implies the metallic behavior of the nanosheets. Furthermore, they show a maximum theoretical specific capacity of about 686.18 mA h g-1 and 546.63 mA h g-1, which is almost two times higher than that of the bulk graphite anode material. The average open circuit voltages are calculated as 0.43 V and 0.11 V for ScSeS and TiSeS, respectively.

Numerical Evaluation of the Elastic Moduli of AlN and GaN Nanosheets

Two-dimensional (2D) nanostructures of aluminum nitride (AlN) and gallium nitride (GaN), called nanosheets, have a graphene-like atomic arrangement and represent novel materials with important upcoming applications in the fields of flexible electronics, optoelectronics, and strain engineering, among others. Knowledge of their mechanical behavior is key to the correct design and enhanced functioning of advanced 2D devices and systems based on aluminum nitride and gallium nitride nanosheets. With this background, the surface Young's and shear moduli of AlN and GaN nanosheets over a wide range of aspect ratios were assessed using the nanoscale continuum model (NCM), also known as the molecular structural mechanics (MSM) approach. The NCM/MSM approach uses elastic beam elements to represent interatomic bonds and allows the elastic moduli of nanosheets to be evaluated in a simple way. The surface Young's and shear moduli calculated in the current study contribute to building a reference for the evaluation of the elastic moduli of AlN and GaN nanosheets using the theoretical method. The results show that an analytical methodology can be used to assess the Young's and shear moduli of aluminum nitride and gallium nitride nanosheets without the need for numerical simulation. An exploratory study was performed to adjust the input parameters of the numerical simulation, which led to good agreement with the results of elastic moduli available in the literature. The limitations of this method are also discussed.

Investigation of the adsorption behavior of the anti-cancer drug hydroxyurea on the graphene, BN, AlN, and GaN nanosheets and their doped structures via DFT and COSMO calculations

To reduce the direct side effects of chemotherapy, researchers are trying to establish a new approach of a drug-delivery system using nanomaterials. In this study, we investigated graphene and its derivative nanomaterials for their favorable adsorption behavior with the anti-cancer drug hydroxyurea (HU) using DFT calculations. Initially, different pristine and doped graphene and its derivatives were taken into consideration as HU drug carriers. Among them, AlN, GaN, GaN-doped AlN, and AlN-doped GaN nanosheets exhibited favorable adsorption behavior with HU. The HU adsorbed on these four nanosheets with adsorption energies of -0.92, -0.75, -0.83, and -0.69 eV, transferring 0.16, 0.032, 0.108, and 0.230 e charges to the nanosheets, respectively, in air medium. In water solvent media, these four nanosheets interacted with HU by -0.56, -0.45, -0.58, and -0.56 eV by accepting a significant amount of charge of about 0.125, 0.128, 0.192, and 0.126 e from HU. The dipole moment and COSMO analysis also indicated that these nanosheets, except for GaN-doped AlN, show high asymmetricity and solubility in water solvent media due to the increased values of the dipole moment by two or three times after the adsorption of the HU drug. Quantum molecular descriptors also suggest that the sensitivity and reactivity of the nanosheets are enhanced during the interaction with HU. Therefore, these nanosheets can be used as anti-cancer drug carriers.

Defect mediated visible light induced photocatalytic activity of Co3O4 nanoparticle decorated MoS2 nanoflower: A combined experimental and theoretical study

In this work, Co₃O₄ nanoparticle-decorated MoS₂ (MoS₂@Co₃O₄) hetero-nanoflowers were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method, and the effect of Co₃O₄ on the morphological, structural, optical, electronic, and photocatalytic properties of MoS₂ was analyzed. The surface morphology of MoS₂ and MoS₂@Co₃O₄ was studied via field emission electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), which revealed a strong interaction between the MoS₂ nanoflower and the nanoparticles. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed a decrease in the crystallite sizes from 7.35 nm to 6.26 nm due to the incorporation of Co₃O₄. The UV-Vis spectroscopy of the analysis revealed that the indirect band gap of MoS₂ was reduced from 1.89 eV to 1.65 eV with the incorporation of Co₃O₄ nanoparticles. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to investigate the electronic properties of MoS₂ and MoS₂@Co₃O₄ hetero-nanoflowers, which also showed a reduction in the electronic band gap for the Co₃O₄ nanoparticles that were injected. The presence of defect states was also observed in the electronic property of MoS₂@Co₃O₄. The photocatalytic activity of the prepared composite and nanoflower is studied using an aqueous solution of methylene blue (MB), and the efficiencies are found to be 27.96% for MoS₂ and 78.89% for MoS₂@Co₃O₄. The improved photocatalytic efficiency of MoS₂@Co₃O₄ hetero-nanoflower can be attributed to narrowing the band gap together with the creation of defect states by the injection of nanoparticles that slows down electron-hole recombination rate by trapping charge carrier. The degradation analysis of the composite provides a new route for the purification of polluted water.

Exploring the adsorption ability with sensitivity and reactivity of C12-B6N6, C12-Al6N6, and B6N6-Al6N6 heteronanocages towards the cisplatin drug: a DFT, AIM, and COSMO analysis

The DFT study on the adsorption behaviour of the C24, B12N12, and Al12N12 nanocages and their heteronanocages towards the anticancer drug cisplatin (CP) was performed in gas and water media. Among the three pristine nanocages, Al12N12 exhibited high adsorption energy ranging from -1.98 to -1.63 eV in the gas phase and -1.47 to -1.39 eV in water media. However, their heterostructures C12-Al6N6 and B6N6-Al6N6 showed higher interaction energies (-2.22 eV and -2.14 eV for C12-Al6N6 and B6N6-Al6N6) with a significant amount of charge transfer. Noteworthy variations in electronic properties were confirmed by FMO analysis and DOS spectra analysis after the adsorption of the cisplatin drug on B12N12 and B6N6-Al6N6 nanocages. Furthermore, an analysis of quantum molecular descriptors unveiled salient decrement in global hardness and increments in electrophilicity index and global softness occurred after the adsorption of CP on B12N12 and B6N6-Al6N6. On the other hand, the above-mentioned fluctuations are not so noteworthy in the case of the adsorption of CP on Al12N12, C12-B6N6, and C12-Al6N6. Concededly, energy calculation, FMO analysis, ESP map, DOS spectra, quantum molecular descriptors, dipole moment, COSMO surface analysis, QTAIM analysis, and work function analysis predict that B12N12 and B6N6-Al6N6 nanocages exhibit high sensitivity towards CP drug molecules.

Density Functional Theory Interaction Study of a Polyethylene Glycol-Based Nanocomposite with Cephalexin Drug for the Elimination of Wound Infection

In this paper, density functional theory (DFT) simulations are used to evaluate the possible use of a graphene oxide-based poly(ethylene glycol) (GO/PEG) nanocomposite as a drug delivery substrate for cephalexin (CEX), an antibiotic drug employed to treat wound infection. First, the stable configuration of the PEGylated system was generated with a binding energy of -25.67 kcal/mol at 1.62 Å through Monte Carlo simulation and DFT calculation for a favorable adsorption site. The most stable configuration shows that PEG interacts with GO through hydrogen bonding of the oxygen atom on the hydroxyl group of PEG with the hydrogen atom of the carboxylic group on GO. Similarly, for the interaction of the CEX drug with the GO/PEG nanocomposite excipient system, the adsorption energies are computed after determining the optimal and thermodynamically favorable configuration. The nitrogen atom from the amine group of the drug binds with a hydrogen atom from the carboxylic group of the GO/PEG nanocomposite at 1.75 Å, with an adsorption energy of -36.17 kcal/mol, in the most stable drug-excipient system. Drug release for tissue regeneration at the predicted target cell is more rapid in moist conditions than in the gas phase. The solubility of the suggested drug in the aqueous media around the open wound is shown by the magnitude of the predicted solvation energy. The findings from this study theoretically validate the potential use of a GO/PEG nanocomposite for wound treatment application as a drug carrier for sustained release of the CEX drug.

Trivalent and Pentavalent atoms doped Boron nitride nanosheets as Favipiravir drug carriers for the treatment of COVID-19 using computational approaches

In our DFT investigations, pristine BNNS as well as trivalent and pentavalent atoms doped BNNS have been taken into consideration for Favipiravir (FPV) drug carriers for the treatment of COVID-19. Among the nanosheets, In doped BNNS (BN(In)NS) interacts with FPV by favorable adsorption energies about −2.44 and −2.38 eV in gas and water media respectively. The charge transfer analysis also predicted that a significant amount of charge about 0.202e and 0.27e are transferred to BN(In)NS in gas and water media respectively. HOMO and LUMO energies are greatly affected by the adsorption of FPV on BN(In)NS and energy gap drastically reduced by about 38.80 % and 64.07 % in gas and water media respectively. Similar results are found from the global indices and work function analysis. Therefore, it is clearly seen that dopant In atom greatly modified the BNNS and enhanced the adsorption behavior along with sensitivity, reactivity, polarity towards the FPV.