N-H bond cleavage of ammonia on graphene-like B36 borophene: DFT studies

Ammonia N-H bond cleavage at metal-free substrates has attracted great attention because of its industrial importance. Here, we investigate the dissociative adsorption of ammonia onto the surface of a B36 borophene sheet by means of density functional theory calculations. We show that the N-H bond may be broken at the edges of B36 even at room temperature, regarding the small energy barrier of 14.1-19.3 kcal mol(-1) at different levels of theory, and more negative Gibbs free energy change. Unlike basis set size, the kind of exchange correlation functional significantly affects the electronic properties of the studied systems. Also, by increasing the percentage of Hartree Fock (HF) exchange of density functionals, the activation and adsorption energies are lowered. A linear relationship between the highest occupied molecular orbital or lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of B36 borophene and the %HF exchange of functionals is predicted. Our work reveals that pure whole boron nanosheets may be promising metal-free materials in N-H bond cleavage, which would raise the potential application of these sheets.