Two-dimensional self-assembly of benzotriazole

Often the physicochemical properties of a material depend on its dimensionality; for organic molecules intermolecular interactions present in the 3D solid may differ from those of 2D or 1D systems. NEXAFS, XPS, HREELS, and LT-STM measurements, combined with DFT modelling, reveal a subtle balance of interactions governing the adsorption of Benzotriazole (BTAH, C6H5N3) on Au(111).

F. Grillo et al., Nanoscale 8, 9167 (2016).

A key issue on the chemistry of BTAH and its property of passivating copper surfaces is the formation of a BTA-Cu ad-layer of, as yet, debated morphology. However, some sections of this layer are thought to comprise purely hydrogen bonded BTAH. The use of an inert substrate, Au(111), allows one to focus on the intermolecular interactions, H-bonding and van der Waals, occurring during the adsorption process, and also to evaluate the very low contribution exerted by an inert substrate, which acts essentially as a bidimensional support. Consideration on BTAH gas-phase tautomeric equilibrium are also obtained.
Other than unravelling in detail complex adsorption phenomena at a molecular level, this study also contributes to understand further the surface

chemistry of BTAH, a well-known corrosion inhibitor for copper and its alloys.
 

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Two-dimensional self-assembly of benzotriazole on an inert substrate;
F. Grillo, J. A. Garrido Torres, M.-J. Treanor, C. R. Larrea, J. P. Götze, P. Lacovig, H. A. Früchtl, R. Schaub and N. V. Richardson;
Nanoscale 8, 9167-9177 (2016).
10.1039/C6NR00821F

This paper is part of the themed collection: 2016 Hot Articles in Nanoscale
Last Updated on Tuesday, 12 November 2019 17:08