Published in

American Chemical Society, Langmuir, 43(29), p. 13198-13208, 2013

DOI: 10.1021/la402217c

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Self-Assembly of Mono- And Bidentate Oligoarylene Thiols onto Polycrystalline Au

This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Green circle
Preprint: archiving allowed
  • Must obtain written permission from Editor
  • Must not violate ACS ethical Guidelines
Orange circle
Postprint: archiving restricted
  • Must obtain written permission from Editor
  • Must not violate ACS ethical Guidelines
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Four thiolated oligoarylene molecules (i) 4-Methoxy-Terphenyl-4''-Methanethiol (MTM), (ii) 4-Methoxy-Terphenyl-3'',5''-Dimethanethiol (MTD), (iii) 4-Nitro-Terphenyl-4''-Methanethiol (NTM) and (iv) 4-Nitro-Terphenyl-3'',5''-Dimethanethiol (NTD) were synthesized and self-assembled as monolayers (SAMs) on polycrystalline Au electrodes of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). SAMs were characterized by contact angle and AC/DC electrochemical measurements, whereas atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used for imaging the pentacene films grown on the coated electrodes. The electrical properties of functionalized OFETs, the electrochemical SAMs features and the morphology of pentacene films were correlated to the molecular organization of the thiolated oligoarylenes on Au, as calculated by means of the density functional theory (DFT). This multi-methodological approach allows us to associate the systematic replacement of the SAM anchoring head group (viz. methanethiol and dimethanethiol) and/or terminal tail group (viz. nitro-, -NO2, methoxy, -OCH3) with the change of the electrical features. The dimethanethiol tail group endows SAMs with higher resistive features along with higher surface tensions compared with methanethiol. Furthermore, the different number of thiolated legs affects the kinetics of Au passivation as well as the pentacene morphology. On the other hand, the nitro group confers further distinctive properties, such as the positive shift of both threshold and critical voltages of OFETs with respect to methoxy one. The latter experimental evidences arise from its electron-withdrawing capability, which has been verified by both DFT calculations and DC electrochemical measurements.