The Potential Application of BAs for a Gas Sensor for Detecting SO₂ Gas Molecule: a DFT Study

Different atmospheric gas molecules (e.g., N₂, O₂, CO₂, H₂O, CO, NO, NO₂, NH₃, and SO₂) are absorbed on the pristine hexagonal boron arsenide (BAs) through density functional theory calculations. For each gas molecules, various adsorption positions were considered. The most stable adsorption depended on position, adsorption energy, charge transfer, and work function. SO₂ gas molecules had the best adsorption energy, the shortest distance for BAs surface in the atmospheric gas molecule, and a certain amount of charge transfer. The calculation of work function was important for exploring the possibilities of adjusting the electronic and optical properties. Our results presented BAs materials can be the potential gas sensor of SO₂ with high sensitivity and selectivity.