6533b7d2fe1ef96bd125e0e4
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Substrate templating upon self-assembly of hydrogen-bonded molecular networks on an insulating surface.
Philipp RaheAngelika KühnleMarkus Nimmrichsubject
Materials scienceHydrogenchemistry.chemical_elementNanotechnologyDielectric530bulk insulatorBiomaterialsMetalchemistry.chemical_compoundMoleculeGeneral Materials ScienceIntermolecular forceSubstrate (chemistry)self-assemblyGeneral Chemistryatomic forcechemistryChemical physicstemplatingvisual_artmicroscopyvisual_art.visual_art_mediumSelf-assemblyTrimesic acidcalciteBiotechnologydescription
M olecular self-assembly on insulating surfaces, despite being highly relvant to many applications, generally suffers from the weak molecule–surface interactions present on dielectric surfaces, especially when benchmarked against metallic substrates. Therefore, to fully exploit the potential of molecular self-assembly, increasing the infl uence of the substrate constitutes an essential prerequisite. Upon deposition of terephthalic acid and trimesic acid onto the natural cleavage plane of calcite, extended hydrogen-bonded networks are formed, which wet the substrate. The observed structural complexity matches the variety realized on metal surfaces. A detailed analysis of the molecular structures observed on calcite reveals a signifi cant infl uence of the underlying substrate, clearly indicating a substantial templating effect of the surface on the resulting molecular networks. This work demonstrates that choosing suitable molecule/substrate systems allows for tuning the balance between intermolecular and molecule–surface interactions even in the case of typically weakly interacting insulating surfaces. This study, thus, provides a strategy for deliberately exploiting substrate templating to increase the structural variety in molecular selfassembly on a bulk insulator at room temperature. Templating
year | journal | country | edition | language |
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2012-03-29 | Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) |