Adsorption and reaction mechanisms of single and double H2O molecules on graphene surfaces with defects: a density functional theory study

Disclosure of the nano-scale hydrogen dynamics on mono-vacancy graphene: a reactivity study with incoming gases

Hydrogenated monovacancy graphene (Hx-MVG, x = 1-7) is investigated for stability, gas interactions, hydrogen migration, and catalytic capabilities using density functional theory (DFT) calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The study highlights the robust stability of Hx-MVG, except for H6-MVG, which displays instability in hydrogen migration with an energy barrier of 0.73 eV. Gas interaction analysis with various gases (CH2O, CO2, HCN, NH3, and NO2) reveals physisorption for most gases, with notable alterations observed with NO2, leading to the formation of nitrous acid in different configurations, where trans-HONO exhibits the highest stability. This research represents a significant advancement in gas purification and catalytic processes, providing insights into toxic gas removal and chemical reaction enhancement. Emphasizing metal-free materials, the findings offer innovative approaches to effectively address environmental and industrial challenges.

The Dynamic Nature of Graphene Active Sites in the H2O Gasification process: A ReaxFF and DFT Study

CONTEXT

A steam-rich environment is a more promising application scenario for future coal-fired processes, while active sites are the key factor that determines the reactivity of carbonaceous fuels. The steam gasification process of carbon surfaces with different numbers of active sites (0, 12, 24, 36) was simulated using reactive molecular dynamics in the present study. The temperature for the decomposition of H₂O and the gasification of carbon is determined using temperature-increasing simulation. The decomposition of H₂O was influenced by two driving forces, thermodynamics and active sites on the carbon surface, which dominated the different reaction stages, leading to the observed segmentation phenomenon of the H₂ production rate. The existence and number of initial active sites have a positive correlation with both two stages of the reaction, greatly reducing the activation energy. Residual OH groups play an important role in the gasification of carbon surfaces. The supply of OH groups through the cleavage of OH bonds in H₂O is the rate-limiting step in the carbon gasification reaction. The adsorption preference at carbon defect sites was calculated using density functional theory. Two stable configurations (ether & semiquinone groups) can be formed with O atoms adsorbed on the carbon surface according to the number of active sites. This study will provide further insights into the tuning of active sites for advanced carbonaceous fuels or materials.

METHODS

The large-scale atomic/molecule massively parallel simulator (LAMMPS) code combined with the reaction force-field method was used to carry out the ReaxFF molecular dynamics simulation, where the ReaxFF potentials were taken from Castro-Marcano, Weismiller and William. The initial configuration was built using Packmol, and the visualization of the calculation results was realized through Visual Molecular Dynamics (VMD). The timestep was set to 0.1 fs to detect the oxidation process with high precision. PWscf code in QUANTUM ESPRESSO (QE) package, was used to evaluate the relative stability of different possible intermediate configurations and the thermodynamic stability of gasification reactions. The projector augmented wave (PAW) and the generalized gradient approximation of Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE-GGA) were adopted. Kinetic energy cutoffs of 50 Ry and 600 Ry, and a uniform mesh of 4 × 4 × 1 k-points were used.

First-Principles Insight into a B4C3 Monolayer as a Promising Biosensor for Exhaled Breath Analysis

Nanomaterial-based room temperature gas sensors are used as a screening tool for diagnosing various diseases through breath analysis. The stable planar structure of boron carbide (B₄C₃) is utilized as a base material for adsorption of human breath exhaled VOCs, namely formaldehyde, methanol, acetone, toluene along, with interfering gases of carbon dioxide and water. The adsorption energy, charge density, density of states, energy band gap variation, recovery time, sensitivity, and work function of adsorbed molecules on pristine B₄C₃ are analyzed by density functional theory. The computed adsorption energies of VOC are in the range of - 0.176 to - 0.238 eV, and a larger interaction distance validate the physisorption behavior of these VOCs biomarkers on pristine boron carbide monolayer. Minute changes are determined from the electronic band structure of all adsorbed systems conserving the semiconducting nature of the B₄C₃ monolayer. The band gap variation upon adsorption of VOCs and interfering gases is examined between 0.05 and 0.52%. The 13.63 × 10^-9 s recovery time of methanol is slower among VOCs, and 0.556 × 10^-9 s of carbon dioxide (CO₂) is faster for desorption. The results reveal that boron carbide can be utilized as a biosensor at room temperature for the analysis of exhaled VOCs from human breath.

Graphene-Encapsulated Silver Nanoparticles for Plasmonic Vapor Sensing

Graphene-covered silver nanoparticles were prepared directly on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite substrates and characterized by atomic force microscopy. UV–Vis reflectance spectroscopy was used to measure the shift in the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) upon exposure to acetone, ethanol, 2-propanol, toluene, and water vapor. The optical responses were found to be substance-specific, as also demonstrated by principal component analysis. Point defects were introduced in the structure of the graphene overlayer by O2 plasma. The LSPR was affected by the plasma treatment, but it was completely recovered using subsequent annealing. It was found that the presence of defects increased the response for toluene and water while decreasing it for acetone.

A density functional theory study on the adsorption reaction mechanism of double CO2 on the surface of graphene defects

Much research has been done on reactions of a single CO₂ molecule with a graphene surface. In this paper, density functional theory calculations are used to investigate the adsorption and reaction of double CO₂ on the surface of single vacancy (SV) and divacancy (DV) defect graphene. The study found that due to the mutual repulsion between CO₂ and the size of the SV defect, it is difficult for two CO₂ molecular to be adsorbed directly above the SV defect at the same time. Regardless of SV or DV, the adsorption of the first CO₂ in the defect center will have a beneficial effect on the adsorption of the second CO₂. In addition, the transition state calculation of the CO₂ reaction on the DV plane was carried out, and the adsorption behavior was analyzed and studied. This in-depth study is helpful to the understanding of the reaction behavior of CO₂ on graphene, and further exploration in the direction of the effective application of graphene to the reaction and adsorption of CO₂. Our work explores the adsorption behavior of CO₂ on graphene surfaces, the physical and chemical adsorption of double CO₂ at the defect was studied and analyzed.