Cu decorated functionalized graphene for Arsenic sensing in water: A first principles analysis

The pristine graphene (G) and copper decorated boron/nitrogen doped graphene (Cu-B/NG) nanosheets have been computationally analyzed and demonstrated for their detection ability towards Arsenic, presence in the aqueous environment. The sheet's detection ability has been analyzed in terms of it's interaction stability and the observed variations in electronic and transport properties. The results reveal that the interaction stability of As has improved significantly for the Cu-BG/NG sheets in comparison to the pristine graphene. The computed electronic properties deduce the adsorption of As, transforms the semiconducting behavior of the Cu-BG/NG sheets into metallic, leading to the variation in its conductance. The observed variation in conductance found to be 25% and 55% for Cu-BG and Cu-NG sheets, respectively, which are relatively higher than the one computed for its pristine (19%) counterpart. Thus, the above results confirm that the functionalization of graphene sheet via doping and decoration with nitrogen and copper, respectively (Cu-NG), enhances the sheet's response by 189%, compared to the pristine sheet. Therefore, Cu-NG nanosheet can be implemented as a potential candidate as Arsenic detector in the aqueous environment.

Automated summary

The ability of pristine graphene and copper decorated boron/nitrogen doped graphene to detect arsenic in water environments was computationally analyzed, revealing that the response of Cu-NG nanosheets to arsenic increased by 189% compared to the pristine sheet, indicating their potential as arsenic detectors in aqueous environments.