For around one decade, on-surface polymerization has been introduced as an alternative method to classical solution-based organic synthesis for constructing novel 1D and 2D materials. One of the intriguing materials, which can be reliably obtained through on-surface polymerization based on Ullmann coupling, are graphene nanoribbons. However, during the polymerization reaction, the presence of the split off halogen atoms on the surface may hamper the diffusion of the monomers and thus, negatively influence the formation of well-ordered polymer structures.<br/>Here, we investigated both the self-assembly and on-surface polymerization of bromine-functionalized pyrene derivatives on Au(111) and Cu(111) surfaces under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. Furthermore, we present a hydrogen dosing treatment to reduce the influence of the split off halogen atoms on the polymer formation. The combination of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements and density functional theory (DFT) calculations enabled the detailed understanding of the well-ordered self-assembled arrangements as well as the intriguing polymer structures on Au(111) and Cu(111).

Self-assembly and on-surface polymerization of bromine-functionalized pyrene derivatives on noble metal surfaces

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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