Red tricycle phosphorene nanoribbon as a removing medium of sulfadiazine and sulfamethoxazole molecules based on first-principles studies

On the possibility of using the Ti@Si16 superatom as a novel drug delivery carrier for different drugs: A DFT study

The potential application of an experimentally synthesized superatom Ti@Si₁₆ as a novel drug carrier for cisplatin (DDP), isoniazid (INH), acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu), and favipiravir (FPV) has been explored by density functional theory. It is observed that the Pt atom of DDP can be effectively absorbed on Ti@Si₁₆ via a "donation-back donation" electron transfer mechanism, resulting in a moderate adsorption energy of -19.95 kcal/mol for DDP@[Ti@Si₁₆]. As for INH, it prefers to combine with Ti@Si₁₆ via the N atom of pyridine ring by forming a strongly polar N-Si bond. Differently, the interaction between Ti@Si₁₆ and the ASA, 5-Fu, and FPV drugs is dominated by the Van der Waals interaction. Our results reveal that DDP@[Ti@Si₁₆] possesses a moderate recovery time under body temperature, which benefits the desorption of DDP from Ti@Si₁₆. More importantly, the release of DDP drug from the Ti@Si₁₆ surface can be effectively controlled by exerting small orientation external electric fields on the DDP@[Ti@Si₁₆] complex. Therefore, this study demonstrates that Ti@Si₁₆ can serve as a promising drug carrier for DDP, and thus will further expand its practical applications in the biomedical field.

Twisted bilayer arsenene sheets as a chemical sensor for toluene and M-xylene vapours - A DFT investigation

2D (two-dimensional) materials are emerging in today's world. Among the 2D materials, arsenene sheets are prominently used as chemical and biosensors. In the present work, the twisted bilayer arsenene sheets (TB-AsNS) are used to adsorb toluene and M-xylene vapours. Moreover, the band gap of pristine TB-AsNS is calculated to be 0.437 eV. Besides, the surface adsorption of toluene and M-xylene vapours modify the electronic properties of TB-AsNS noticed from the band structure, density of states, and electron density difference diagrams. The surface assimilation of target toluene and M-xylene on TB-AsNS falls in the physisorption regime facilitating the adsorption and desorption of molecules. Also, the charge transfer analysis infers that TB-AsNS acts as acceptor and target molecules play as donors. The findings support that TB-AsNS can be used as a sensing medium towards M-xylene and toluene.

Zipper phosphorene as sensing element towards formaldehyde and acetaldehyde - A first-principles insight

We ascertained the structural stability of zipper phosphorene nanosheet (zP-NS) and studied the adsorption behaviour of toxic aldehyde compounds including formaldehyde (FD) and acetaldehyde (AD) on zP-NS based on first-principles calculation. Considerably, zP-NS reveal a semiconducting character with band gap of 1.35 eV. Especially, four distinct favourable adsorption positions including bridge-, hollow-, top- and valley-site of FD and AD vapours on zP-NS were investigated. Furthermore, the calculated binding-energy of prominent adsorption sites are observed to be in the scope of -0.143 eV to -0.411 eV advocating physisorption nature of the interaction of chief aldehydes on zP-NS. The overall outcomes recommend that zP-NS can be persuasively utilised as a chemical sensor for monitoring FD and AD molecules in indoor air environment.