PH3 and AsH3 Adsorption Through Pristine and Stone-Wales Defected Zinc Oxide Nanosheets: A Density Functional Theory Study

Abstract

The adsorption of the XH3 (X = As or P) molecules were explored onto a pure and Stone-wales defected ZnONS (SW ZnONS) through density functional theory computations. As XH3 approaches the pure ZnONS their adsorption releases -3.7 to -7.6 kcal/mol, indicating a physisorption. Also, the electronic properties of the nanosheet do not change significantly. But when AsH3 approaches SW ZnONS, its adsorption releases -23.3 kcal/mol, and electronic analysis showed that the SW ZnONS HOMO/LUMO gap reduces about ~ -27.1% and the electrical conductivity increases significantly. Therefore, the SW ZnONS can generate electrical signals when the AsH3 molecule approaches, being a hopeful sensor. τ value which calculated for the desorption of AsH3 from the surface of the SW ZnONS is 9.5 s. This indicates that the SW ZnONS has the advantage of having a short τ as a sensor for AsH3 detection.