Materials Science at the Atomic Scale: Structure, chemical reactions and complex architectures

DIPC Seminars

Speaker

Alexander Riss, Technical University of Munich, Physik-Department E20, Garching (Germany)

When

2018/01/18
12:00

Place

Donostia International Physics Center

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Effective synthesis and utilization of functional molecular materials relies on control of arrangement, interaction and coupling of molecular units in specific reaction environments, as well as an understanding on how these parameters affect the physical and chemical properties of the products. Our studies focus on atomic-level investigations of the microscopic driving forces of surface-supported intermolecular reactions of organic molecules along with changes of their electronic properties. In particular, we have directly determined the mechanisms underlying complex bimolecular coupling and cyclization reactions through real-space imaging of the precise bond configuration of intermediate species using atomic force microscopy (AFM; Fig. 1a) [1]. We will demonstrate how such cyclization reactions can be used for directed one-dimensional molecular growth and show how low-energy extended electronic states are formed in conjugated polymeric chains (Fig. 1b) [2]. We will discuss how metal/molecule/insulator structures provide opportunities to protect organic materials from atmospheric pressure and to control chemical reactions through geometric confinement [3]. References [1] A. Riss et al. _Nat. Chem._ **8** , 678 (2016) [2] A. Riss et al. _Nano Lett._ **14** , 2251 (2014) [3] J. Ducke et al. _submitted_ [4] M. Schwarz et al.: _ACS Nano_ **11** , 9151 (2017)