Au, Ag, Pb, Pt -doped MoTe2 monolayer as a novel sensor for dissolved gases (CH4, and C2H2): A first-principles study

In this study, C2H2 and CH4 gas molecules adsorption on intrinsic MoTe2 and Au, Ag, Pb, Pt doped MoTe2 by density functional theory (DFT). The adsorption energy, bond length, charge transfer, PDOS and work function are calculated, it can be proved that Ag-MoTe2 have excellent C2H2 and CH4 adsorption performance than AuMoTe2, Pb-MoTe2 and Pt-MoTe2. However, C2H2 gas molecule can be chemisorbed onto the doped Ag in the modified MoTe2 with a high adsorption energy of 0.923 eV, capturing approximately 0.65 e from the sensing material. Ag-MoTe2 has the better C2H2 and CH4 adsorption performance than Au-MoTe2, Pb-MoTe2 and PtMoTe2, as evidenced by the strong overlap of the s, p, d orbitals and the significant reduction of the energy gap from the PDOS. Therefore, suggesting that the Ag-MoTe2 could have potential application in the capture and dissociation of C2H2 and CH4.