A theoretical approach of the ethanol adsorption on Au(100), Au(110) and Au(111) surfaces

•Adsorption energies and band structure analysis of ethanol on Au(100), Au(110) and Au(111) surfaces have been studied by using density functional theory.•We employed periodic boundary conditions using numerical atomic orbitals and plane waves as basis set.•We found that ethanol is physisorbed on each surface in neutral media.•The band structure analysis shows that the no-bonding orbitals of the ethanol interact with the conduction bands of the surfaces.