Issue 34, 2011
From the journal:

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics

Electrochemical investigations on stability and protonation behavior of pyridine-terminated aromatic self-assembled monolayers

Mutlu Iskender Muglali,*a   Asif Bashir,a   Andreas Terfortb  and  Michael Rohwerder*a  

* Corresponding authors

a Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, 40237 Düsseldorf, Germany
E-mail: m.muglali@mpie.de, m.rohwerder@mpie.de

b Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, 60438 Frankfurt, Germany

Abstract

Based on electrochemical methods such as cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Au(111) electrodes modified by self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of a homologous series of pyridine-terminated thiols with aromatic backbones have been investigated. An important correlation between the chain structure and film integrity in electrolytic media was found. Monolayers with odd numbers of methylene spacers in the molecular chain showed superior barrier properties compared to even numbered counterparts. A positive influence of an increase in the number of attached phenyl rings on the integrity of SAMs was observed. Furthermore, cathodic desorption of the investigated SAMs is characterized by multiwave desorption peaks and extraordinarily large cathodic charges indicating an unusual desorption process. Moreover, protonation behavior of the SAMs has been investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical methods. Protonation has been found to be reversible and surface pKa values have been determined to be around 5 for all investigated monolayers.

Graphical abstract: Electrochemical investigations on stability and protonation behavior of pyridine-terminated aromatic self-assembled monolayers

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C1CP21469A
Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 May 2011
Accepted
05 Jul 2011
First published
26 Jul 2011

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011,13, 15530-15538

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Electrochemical investigations on stability and protonation behavior of pyridine-terminated aromatic self-assembled monolayers

M. I. Muglali, A. Bashir, A. Terfort and M. Rohwerder, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011, 13, 15530 DOI: 10.1039/C1CP21469A

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