Quasi-one-dimensional silicon nanostructures for gas molecule adsorption: a DFT investigation

Abstract Porous structures offer an enormous surface suitable for gas sensing, however, the effects of their quantum quasi-confinement on their molecular sensing capacities has been seldom studied. In this work the gas-sensing capability of silicon nanopores is investigated by comparing it to silicon nanowires using first principles calculations. In particular, the adsorption of toxic gas molecules CO, NO, SO2 and NO2 on both silicon nanopores and nanowires with the same cross sections was studied. Results show that sensing-related properties of silicon nanopores and nanowires are very similar, suggesting that surface effects are predominant over the confinement. However, there are certain cases where there are remarked differences between the nanowire and porous cases, for instance, CO-adsorbed nanoporous silicon shows a metallic band structure unlike its nanowire counterpart, which remains semiconducting, suggesting that quantum quasi-confinement may be playing an important role in this behaviour. These results are significant in the study of the quantum phenomena behind the adsorption of gas molecules on nanostructure’s surfaces, with possible applications in chemical detectors or catalysts.