Issue 36, 2018

A sui generis electrode-driven spatial confinement effect responsible for strong twisting enhancement of floppy molecules in closely packed self-assembled monolayers

Abstract

At present, it is widely accepted that properties (e.g., molecular conformation) of molecules adsorbed to form self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on electrodes can be very different from isolated species because of a substantial charge transfer or specific chemical bonding at the interface. Contrary to this view, the theoretical results presented here predict that the strong twisting angle (φ) enhancement of floppy molecules adsorbed to form densely packed SAMs on most common electrodes (Pt, Au, Ag, and Cu) is neither due to charge transfer nor to specific bonding but rather to a sui generis electrode-driven spatial confinement effect that can be quantitatively described within an electrode-free two-dimensional model. We predict a logistic (“Fermi–Dirac”) growth pattern of φ as the coverage approaches the value characteristic of a herringbone arrangement, which is twice the value for isolated molecules or low-coverage SAMs.

Graphical abstract: A sui generis electrode-driven spatial confinement effect responsible for strong twisting enhancement of floppy molecules in closely packed self-assembled monolayers

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Aug 2018
Accepted
22 Aug 2018
First published
22 Aug 2018

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2018,20, 23492-23499

A sui generis electrode-driven spatial confinement effect responsible for strong twisting enhancement of floppy molecules in closely packed self-assembled monolayers

I. Bâldea, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2018, 20, 23492 DOI: 10.1039/C8CP04974B

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements