title: Two-dimensional assemblies of banana-shaped liquid crystal molecules on HOPG surface.
abstract: Two-dimensional assemblies of a series of banana-shaped liquid crystal molecules, 1,3-phenylene bis[4-(4-n-alkylphenyliminomethyl) benzoates] (P-n-PIMB, n = 12, 14, 18), are investigated on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface by using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) at a submolecular level in an ambient environment. Two types of molecular arrangements are observed in these self-assemblies with different stripe widths that resulted from the organization of the alkyl chains. The polarization of the P-n-PIMB monolayers is exactly compensated by the adjacent lamellae with opposite bent direction. Furthermore, a bilayer structure is found in the assembly of P-18-PIMB molecules. In comparison with a gemini surfactant molecule, 4,4'-di[4-(octadecylmethylamino)styryl]-1,1'-pentamethylenebispyridinium dibromide (OPD), P-n-PIMB molecules appear in more complicated packing arrangements. The results in this paper demonstrate the effects of the molecular structures on the adlayer arrangement and will be helpful in fabricating two-dimensional molecular structures on solid surfaces.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Ru
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Li-Jun
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Wan