LAUSR

ABSTRACT We studied affinity of pure and Ni, Pd and Pt-doped (7, 0) boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) to toxic HCN molecules using density functional theory calculations. The results indicated that the pure (7, 0) BNNTs can weakly adsorb HCN molecules with adsorption energy of −0.2474 eV. Upon adsorption of HCN molecules on this nanotube, the band gap energy was decreased from 3.320 to 2.960 eV. The more negative adsorption energy between these transition metal-doped (7, 0) BNNTs and HCN molecules indicated that doping of (7, 0) BNNTs with Ni, Pd and Pt elements can significantly improve the affinity of BNNTs toward this gas. Additionally, it was found that the interaction energy between HCN molecules and Pt-doped BNNTs is more negative than those of the Ni and Pd-doped BNNTs. These observations suggested that the Pt-doped (7, 0) BNNTs are strongly sensitive to HCN molecules and therefore it may be used in gas sensor devices for detecting this toxic gas.