title: Layer-by-layer electropeeling of organic conducting material imaged in real time.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Ciencia de Materials de Barcelona, CSIC, Campus de la UAB Bellaterra, Cerdanyola del Vallés, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Munuera
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Puigmartí-Luis
authors.forename: Markos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paradinas
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Garzón
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Amabilino
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ocal
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008670:Metals; D011108:Polymers; D012997:Solvents