The effect of electric field on the interaction of glycine with (6,0) single-walled boron nitride nanotubes

The interaction between the glycine molecule with the (6,0) zigzag model of single-walled boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) with H-terminated at the open end, has been investigated in the presence and absence of an external electric field (EF), using the DFT- B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory. The results demonstrated that glycine is chemisorbed on the (6,0) BNNT and this chemical adsorption can be significantly modified by the intensity of an external EF. It was found that increasing the EF strengthens the interaction between glycine and BNNT; thus, adsorption of glycine on BNNT could be controlled by the intensity of the EF. This result might be useful in the design of novel nano-devices, such as nano-sensors.