Ab initio and semi-empirical van der Waals study of graphene-boron nitride interaction from a molecular point of view

作者：Caciuc Vasile^*; Atodiresei Nicolae; Callsen Martin; Lazic Predrag; Bluegel Stefan

来源：Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter , 2012, 24(42): 424214.

DOI：10.1088/0953-8984/24/42/424214

We have performed a systematic semi-empirical and ab initio van der Waals study to investigate the bonding mechanism of benzene (C6H6), triazine (C3N3H3) and borazine (B3N3H6) adsorbed on graphene and a single boron nitride (BN) sheet. The two semi-empirical approaches used to include the van der Waals (vdW) interactions in our density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest that the strength of the molecule-surface interaction corresponds to a strong physisorption with no net charge transfer between the molecules and the corresponding substrates. This observation is strengthened by the use of first-principles non-local correlation vdW-DF functionals which provide a sound physical basis to include vdW interactions in DFT calculations. In particular we have employed two flavors of vdW-DF functionals which enabled us to determine the role of the non-local correlation effects in the molecule-surface bonding mechanism which cannot be assessed by using only semi-empirical vdW methods. Our study also reveals that the strength of the molecule-surface interaction can be influenced by the electronegativity of the B, C and N atoms.

• 出版日期2012-10-24