Metal-Decorated InN Monolayer Senses N₂ against CO₂

Poor selectivity is a common problem faced by gas sensors. In particular, the contribution of each gas cannot be reasonably distributed when a binary mixture gas is co-adsorbed. In this paper, taking CO 2 and N 2 as an example, density functional theory is used to reveal the mechanism of selective adsorption of a transition metal (Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu)-decorated InN monolayer. The results show that Ni decoration can improve the conductivity of the InN monolayer while at the same time demonstrating an unexpected affinity for binding N 2 instead of CO 2 . Compared with the pristine InN monolayer, the adsorption energies of N 2 and CO 2 on the Ni-decorated InN are dramatically increased from −0.1 to −1.93 eV and from −0.2 to −0.66 eV, respectively. Interestingly, for the first time, the density of states demonstrates that the Ni-decorated InN monolayer achieves a single electrical response to N 2, eliminating the interference of CO 2 . Furthermore, the d-band center theory explains the advantage of Ni decorated in gas adsorption over Fe, Co, and Cu atoms. We also highlight the necessity of thermodynamic calculations in evaluating practical applications. Our theoretical results provide new insights and opportunities for exploring N 2 -sensitive materials with high selectivity.