Al-Doped MoSe2 Monolayer as a Promising Biosensor for Exhaled Breath Analysis: A DFT Study

Exhaled breath analysis by nanosensors is a workable and rapid manner to diagnose lung cancer in the early stage. In this paper, we proposed Al-doped MoSe2 (Al-MoSe2) as a promising biosensor for sensing three typically exhaled volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of lung cancer, namely, C3H4O, C3H6O, and C5H8, using the density functional theory (DFT) method. Single Al atom is doped on the Se-vacancy site of the MoSe2 surface, which behaves as an electron-donor and enhances the electrical conductivity of the nanosystem. The adsorption and desorption performances, electronic behavior, and the thermostability of the Al-MoSe2 monolayer are conducted to fully understand its physicochemical properties as a sensing material. The results indicate that the Al-MoSe2 monolayer shows admirable sensing performances with C3H4O, C3H6O, and C5H8 with responses of -85.7, -95.6, and -96.3%, respectively. Also, the desirable adsorption performance and the thermostability endow with the Al-MoSe2 monolayer with good sensing and desorbing behaviors for the recycle detection of three VOCs. We are hopeful that the results in this paper could provide some guidance to the experimentalists fulfilling their exploration in the practical application, which can also broaden the exploration of transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) in more fields as well.

Automated summary

In this paper, Al-doped MoSe2 is proposed as a promising biosensor for detecting three typically exhaled volatile organic compounds of lung cancer. The results demonstrate admirable sensing performances and thermostability of the Al-MoSe2 monolayer, which shows great potential for recycle detection of VOCs. This research may offer guidance to experimentalists in practical applications and broaden the exploration of transition-metal dichalcogenides in various fields.