Magnesium oxide nanotube as a promising material for detection of methamphetamine drug: theoretical study

Owing to the negative impacts of abusing illegal drugs like methamphetamine (MAF), their detection and control are of paramount importance. Therefore, it is very critical to determine MAF in biological samples. The current research study investigated the sensing interaction of inherent and MgO nanotubes (MgONT) toward MAF via density functional theory computations. We determined that the MgONT has a sensing response of 283.31, and it remarkably improves the reactivity toward MAF. The levels of energy for the highest occupied and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals have changed to a great extent, thereby reducing bandgap (E_g) values which increased electrical conductivity. Furthermore, a short recovery time (~ 28.65 ms) has been anticipated for MAF desorption from the MgONT exterior. This piece of research showed that MgONT might be a possible electronic sensor and an appropriate choice to deliver MAF in biological samples.