Boron Nitride Monolayer: A Strain-Tunable Nanosensor

TL;DR

This study explores how triaxial strain affects the electronic properties of boron nitride monolayers, demonstrating potential for strain-tunable nanosensors capable of selective gas molecule detection.

Contribution

It introduces a method to localize molecular orbitals in boron nitride sheets via strain, enabling the design of nanosensors with enhanced selectivity.

Findings

Strain localizes molecular orbitals in the center of BN flakes.

Strained BN sheets adsorb polar molecules more strongly.

The technique can be used to develop engineered nanosensors.

Abstract

The influence of triaxial in-plane strain on the electronic properties of a hexagonal boron-nitride sheet is investigated using density functional theory. Different from graphene, the triaxial strain localizes the molecular orbitals of the boron-nitride flake in its center depending on the direction of the applied strain. The proposed technique for localizing the molecular orbitals that are close to the Fermi level in the center of boron nitride flakes can be used to actualize engineered nanosensors, for instance, to selectively detect gas molecules. We show that the central part of the strained flake adsorbs polar molecules more strongly as compared with an unstrained sheet.