Silicon nanowires as acetone-adsorptive media for diabetes diagnosis

Early detection of diabetes, a worldwide health issue, is key for its successful treatment. Acetone is a marker of diabetes, and efficient, non-invasive detection can be achieved with the use of nanotechnology. In this paper we investigate the effect of acetone adsorption on the electronic propertie...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Santiago, Francisco de, Santana, José Eduardo, Miranda, Álvaro, Pérez, Luis Antonio, Rurali, Riccardo, Cruz Irisson, Miguel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/239443
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/239443
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Silicon nanowires
Diabetes
Acetone
Sensor
DFT
Doping
Descripción
Sumario:Early detection of diabetes, a worldwide health issue, is key for its successful treatment. Acetone is a marker of diabetes, and efficient, non-invasive detection can be achieved with the use of nanotechnology. In this paper we investigate the effect of acetone adsorption on the electronic properties of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) by means of density functional theory. We considered hydrogenated SiNWs grown along the [1 1 1] bulk Si axis, with group-III impurities (B, Al, Ga), for which both surface substitutional doping and functionalizing schemes are considered. We present an analysis of the adsorption configuration, energetics, and electronic properties of the undoped and doped SiNWs. Upon acetone adsorption, the SiNW without impurities becomes an n-type semiconductor, while most substituted/functionalized cases have their HOMO-LUMO gap tuned, which could be harnessed in optical sensors. Acetone is always chemisorbed, although for the case without impurities, and the Al- and Ga-functionalization schemes, the chemisorption is very weak. These nanostructures could be used for acetone capture and detection, which could lead to applications in the medical treatment of diabetes.