Nascent molecular electronic devices based on linear 'all-carbon' wires attached to gold electrodes through robust and reliable C-Au contacts are prepared via efficient in situ sequential cleavage of trimethylsilyl end groups from an oligoyne, MeSi-(C[triple bond, length as m-dash]C)-SiMe (1). In the first stage of the fabrication process, removal of one trimethylsilyl (TMS) group in the presence of a gold substrate, which ultimately serves as the bottom electrode, using a stoichiometric fluoride-driven process gives a highly-ordered monolayer, Au|C[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CSiMe (Au|CSiMe). In the second stage, treatment of Au|CSiMe with excess fluoride results in removal of the remaining TMS protecting group to give a modified monolayer Au|C[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CH (Au|CH). The reactive terminal C[triple bond, length as m-dash]C-H moiety in Au|CH can be modified by 'click' reactions with (azidomethyl)ferrocene (NCHFc) to introduce a redox probe, to give Au|CCNHCHFc. Alternatively, incubation of the modified gold substrate supported monolayer Au|CH in a solution of gold nanoparticles (GNPs), results in covalent attachment of GNPs on top of the film via a second alkynyl carbon-Au σ-bond, to give structures Au|C|GNP in which the monolayer of linear, 'all-carbon' C chains is sandwiched between two macroscopic gold contacts. The covalent carbon-surface bond as well as the covalent attachment of the metal particles to the monolayer by cleavage of the alkyne C-H bond is confirmed by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The integrity of the carbon chain in both Au|CCNHCHFc systems and after formation of the gold top-contact electrode in Au|C|GNP is demonstrated through electrochemical methods. The electrical properties of these nascent metal-monolayer-metal devices Au|C|GNP featuring 'all-carbon' molecular wires were characterised by sigmoidal I-V curves, indicative of well-behaved junctions free of short circuits.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.