Surface-induced selection during in situ photoswitching at the solid/liquid interface.
Here we report for the first time a submolecularly resolved scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) study at the solid/liquid interface of the in situ reversible interconversion between two isomers of a diarylethene photoswitch, that is, open and closed form, self-assembled on a graphite surface. Prolonged irradiation with UV light led to the in situ irreversible formation of another isomer as by-product of the reaction, which due to its preferential physisorption accumulates at the surface. By making use of a simple yet powerful thermodynamic model we provide a quantitative description for the observed surface-induced selection of one isomeric form.
Nanochemistry Laboratory, ISIS & icFRC, Université de Strasbourg & CNRS, 8 allée Gaspard Monge, 67000 Strasbourg (France).
Sara
S
Bonacchi
Mohamed
M
El Garah
Artur
A
Ciesielski
Martin
M
Herder
Simone
S
Conti
Marco
M
Cecchini
Stefan
S
Hecht
Paolo
P
Samorì
diarylethene; interfaces; in situ photoswitching; scanning tunneling microscopy; self-assembly