Two of the most well-exploited intermolecular interactions in synthetic supramolecular chemistry are hydrogen bonding and aromatic stacking. In surface-assisted self-assembly, hydrogen bonding has been used extensively in the fabrication of ordered monolayer surface architectures. In contrast, aromatic stacking has been less explored as a route to direct crystallization and orientation of thin films, despite its importance in the assembly of many biological structures and organic crystals. In this contribution, we present the growth of atomically flat, crystalline organic thin films from a metallic surface with high-fidelity through p-p stacking, enabled by the electrostatic complementarity between donor and acceptor subunits. The self-assembly process is maintained over > 20 molecular layers and enables effective charge transport through the ordered molecular stacks, as confirmed by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) as well as atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies. The strategies presented towards highly ordered, intimate co-facial stacking of extended p-conjugation could lead to useful applications in molecularly constructed electronic materials and devices.

High-fidelity self-assembly of crystalline organic thin films by p�p stacking from a metal surface

247th National Meeting (2014)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.