title: Studies on the effect of solvents on self-assembled monolayers formed from organophosphonic acids on indium tin oxide.
abstract: The preparation of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of organophosphonic acids on indium tin oxide (ITO) surfaces from different solvents (triethylamine, ethyl ether, tetrahydofuran (THF), pyridine, acetone, methanol, acetonitrile, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), or water) has been performed with some significant differences observed. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), and contact angle measurement demonstrated that the quality of SAMs depends critically on the choice of solvents. Higher density, more stable monolayers were formed from solvents with low dielectric constants and weak interactions with the ITO. It was concluded low dielectric solvents that were inert to the ITO gave monolayers that were more stable with a higher density of surface bound molecules because higher dielectric constant solvents and solvents that coordinate with the surface disrupted SAM formation.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Erwann
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Luais
authors.forename: Nadim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Darwish
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ciampi
authors.forename: Pall
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Thordarson
authors.forename: J Justin
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Gooding
mesh_terms: D004563:Electrochemistry; D063065:Organophosphonates / Q000737:chemistry*; D012997:Solvents / Q000737:chemistry*; D017971:Tin Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D063065:Organophosphonates; D012997:Solvents; D017971:Tin Compounds; C109984:indium tin oxide