Layer-by-layer electropeeling of organic conducting material imaged in real time.
Soft materials comprising low-molecular-weight organic molecules are attracting increasing interest because of their importance in the development of a number of emerging areas in nanoscience and technology, including molecular electronics, nanosystems for energy conversion, and devices in the widest sense. Their interaction with electrodes and their behavior under electric fields is a topic of vital significance for these areas, and about which very little is known. Here unprecedented evidence is presented for the controlled peeling of organic molecular material when a voltage is applied between the conducting system and the conducting probe of a scanning force microscope. The rate of removal of the material from the surface of the bulk conducting supramolecular material can be tuned. It depends on the potential applied and is initiated only above a threshold value of 200 mV. The results indicate the importance of electric fields on the stability and performance of conducting organic systems at the nanoscale.
Munuera
Carmen
C
Institut de Ciencia de Materials de Barcelona, CSIC, Campus de la UAB Bellaterra, Cerdanyola del Vallés, Spain.
Puigmartí-Luis
Josep
J
Paradinas
Markos
M
Garzón
Luis
L
Amabilino
David B
DB
Ocal
Carmen
C
D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods; D004566:Electrodes; D005782:Gels; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry; D020527:Microscopy, Scanning Probe / Q000379:methods; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties
D005782:Gels; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008670:Metals; D011108:Polymers; D012997:Solvents