Adsorption and Catalytic Activation of the Molecular Oxygen on the Metal Supported h-BN

Adsorption and catalytic activation of the molecular oxygen on the hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayer supported on Ni(111) and Cu(111) surfaces have been studied theoretically using density functional theory. It is demonstrated that an inert h-BN monolayer can be functionalized and become catalytically active on the transition metal support as a result of mixing of the metal d and h-BN pi bands.