Dibenzothiophene adsorption at boron doped carbon nanoribbons studied within density functional theory

The adsorption of dibenzothiophene (DBT) on bare and boron-doped armchair carbon nanoribbons (ACNRs) is being investigated in the framework of the density functional theory by implementing periodic boundary conditions that include corrections from dispersion interactions. The reactivity of the ACNRs is characterized by using the Fukui functions as well as the electrostatic potential as local descriptors. Non-covalent adsorption mechanism is found when using the local Perdew-Becke-Ernzerhof functional, regardless of the DBT orientation and adsorption location. The dispersion interactions addition is a milestone to describe the adsorption process. The charge defects introduced in small number (i.e., by doping with B atoms), within the ACNRs increases the selectivity towards sulfur mainly due to the charge depletion at B sites. The DBT magnitude in the adsorption energy shows non-covalent interactions. As a consequence, the configurations where the DBT is adsorbed on a BC3 island increase the adsorption energy compared to random B arrangements. The stability of these configurations can be explained satisfactorily in terms of dipole interactions. Nevertheless, from the charge-density difference analysis and the weak Bader charge-distribution interactions cannot be ruled out completely. This is why the electronic properties of the ribbons are analyzed in order to elucidate the key role played by the B and DBT states in the adsorbed configurations.