title: 1,3,5-Benzenetribenzoic Acid on Cu(111) and Graphene/Cu(111): A Comparative STM Study.
abstract: The self-assembly of 1,3,5-benzenetribenzoic acid (BTB) molecules on both Cu(111) and epitaxial graphene grown on Cu(111) were studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. On Cu(111), the BTB molecules were found to mainly arrange in close-packed structures through H-bonding between the (partially) deprotonated carboxylic acid groups. In addition, porous structures formed by intact BTB molecules-and also based on H-bonding-were observed. On graphene grown on Cu(111) the BTB molecules mainly form porous structures accompanied by small patches of disordered close-packed structures. Upon annealing, BTB adsorbed on Cu(111) is fully deprotonated and arranges in the close-packed structure while in contrast on graphene/Cu(111) the porous network is exclusively formed. This shows that the molecular self-assembly behavior is highly dependent on the first substrate layer: one graphene layer is sufficient to considerably alter the interplay of molecule substrate and intermolecular interactions in favor of the latter interactions.
authors: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen , Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Li
authors: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen , Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors: Stefano
authors: S
authors: Gottardi
authors: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen , Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors: Leonid
authors: L
authors: Solianyk
authors: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen , Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors: Juan Carlos
authors: JC
authors: Moreno-López
authors: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen , Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors: Meike
authors: M
authors: Stöhr