title: Single Molecular Junction Study on H2O@C60: H2O is "Electrostatically Isolated".
abstract: A water molecule exhibits characteristic properties on the basis of hydrogen bonding. In the past decade, single water molecules placed in non-hydrogen-bonding environments have attracted growing attention. To reveal the fundamental properties of a single water molecule, endohedral fullerene H2O@C60is an ideal and suitable model. We examined the electronic properties of H2O@C60by performing single-molecule measurements. The conductance of a single molecular junction based on H2O@C60was found to be comparable to that of empty C60. The observed values were remarkably higher than those obtained for conventional molecular junctions due to the effective hybridization of the π-conjugated system to the metal electrode. Additionally, the results undoubtedly exclude the possibility of electrostatic contact of entrapped H2O with the carbon wall of C60. We finally concluded that H2O entrapped inside a C60cage can be regarded as an electrostatically isolated molecule.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 W4-10 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.affiliation: Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji-city, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hashikawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 W4-10 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Shintaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.affiliation: Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji-city, Kyoto, 611-0011, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasujiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 W4-10 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 152-8551, Japan.
authors.forename: Manabu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kiguchi
keywords: break junction technique; electron transfer; endohedral fullerene; molecular electronics; singe-molecule studies