title: New insights into sulfur deposition on gold using dithiobisphthalimide as a new precursor.
abstract: Dithiobisphthalimide is used as a new precursor for the spontaneous deposition of sulfur on gold surfaces in acetonitrile. Characterization of the modified surfaces is achieved using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electrochemistry and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). The reported results indicate that the sulfur deposition is an efficient and fast process and that high coverages can be reached very quickly. Sequential high-resolution STM in air allows the direct observation, for the first time, of the mobility of the usually observed rectangular structures as individual units. It also shows the reversible association/dissociation of these rectangles. The nature of these structures is highly debated in the literature and the present work provides new insights into their nature through the use of a new sulfur precursor under non-traditional conditions. To explain our results we consider these structures as simple sulfur adlayers on the gold surface.
authors.affiliation: Electrochemical Technology Centre, Department of Chemistry, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1 Canada. ahoumam@uoguelph.ca
authors.forename: Abdelaziz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Houmam
authors.forename: Kallum M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Koczkur
authors.forename: Golam
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moula
authors.forename: Emad M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Hamed