Strain and External Electric Field Engineering of S-Terminated MXene on Selective and Sensitive Detection of N-Containing Compound Gases: A Computational Study

Abstract

Gas sensors are used for monitoring hazardous gases and vapors. With the emergence of S-terminated MXene synthesis, herein, we explore the sensing ability of Ti3C2S2 toward N-containing gases, including NH3, NO, NO2, trimethylamine (TMA), and nicotine (NT), using first-principles calculations and a statistical thermodynamic model. We find that Ti3C2S2 exhibits high selectivity to TMA, NO, and NT with moderate adsorption energies of −0.610, −0.490, and −0.476 eV, respectively, minimizing environmental noise from ambient gases. The electronic structure of Ti3C2S2 subtly alters upon adsorption of TMA, NO, and NT, facilitating detectable signals in the sensing device. However, the adsorption of NO2 and NH3 is less pronounced due to weak physisorption (<0.3 eV). Employing engineering strategies including biaxial strain and an external electric field greatly enhances the selectivity and sensitivity of NO2 (NH3) detection by boosting adsorption strength up to −0.351 eV with ϵ = 5% (−0.370 eV with |E⃗| = 0.6 V/ Å). In addition, the moderate adsorption energies of the gases result in a suitable recovery time in the range of milliseconds, leading to high reusability of the sensing device. The estimated adsorption densities suggest potential coverage of these N-containing molecules even at low concentrations and room temperature. Computational analysis of the sensing capability of Ti3C2S2 using the nonequilibrium Green’s function method indicates that it is a promising gas-sensing material. In addition, mechanical modifications, electric field adjustments, and gate voltage alterations could be used to obtain effective sensing materials for N-containing gas detection.