Epoxy monomer adsorption on Group III (B, Al, Ga) nitride nanotubes: vdW-DF studies on mechanical and electronic properties

The present work investigates the interaction of (6,6) and (10,0) B, Al, and Ga nitride nanotubes (BNNT, AINNT, and GaNNT) with bisphenol-A epoxy monomers using the first-principles van der Waals density functional (vdW-DF) approach with respect to geometrical structures, interaction energies, and electronic properties. Two types of orientations for monomer adsorption are considered: (I) parallel and (II) perpendicular with the tube axis. The interaction energy for epoxy that is adsorbed on the surface of different nanotubes (for both of these states of adsorption) is calculated, and the results indicate that state (II) is more stable than state (I) for nanotube adsorption. Unlike results obtained with BNNTs/ (10,0) AINNT, the results reported herein indicate that (6,6) AlNNTs/GaNNT5 can effectively interact with the epoxy monomer, and their interaction properties are dramatically changed upon exposure to these monomers. In addition, density functional calculations are performed within the generalized gradient approximation in the elastic deformation range to obtain the Young's modulus of (6,6) nanotubes and their complexes in their most stable orientation. Our results reveal that the amounts of modulus downfall of complexes are strongly influenced by the interaction between the monomer and the nanotubes. Among the investigated nanotubes, AINNT and GaNNTs possesses the strongest interaction to the monomer, but the Young's modulus of GaNNT complex is higher than that another one. Thus, we believe that AlNNTs might be a good strategy for improving the mechanical properties of epoxy nanocomposites. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.