First-principles Study of MoS2 Nanostructures with Various Adsorbates

Recently, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nanostructures have been investigated for applications of lithium-ion batteries, solar cell, and gas sensors. In this regard, we have studied atomic and electronic properties of MoS2 nanostructures with adsorbed atoms and molecules using density functional theory calculations. Our calculations reveal that the several atoms such as H, C, N, and F are chemically bound to several sites on the two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 surface. On the other hand, various contamination molecules such as CO, CO2, NO, NO2, and NH3 do not bind to the surface. Next, adsorption of various molecules on the one-dimensional (1D) armchair MoS2 nanoribbon is investigated. Contrary to the case of 2D MoS2 monolayer surface, some molecules (CO and NO) are bound well to the edge of the MoS2 nanoribbon. We find that the molecular states due to adsorption are located near the Fermi level, which makes the band gap narrower. Therefore, we suggest that monolayer MoS2 nanoribbons be used as the gas sensors or detectors.