1
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Gao T, Daaoub A, Pan Z, Hu Y, Yuan S, Li Y, Dong G, Huang R, Liu J, Sangtarash S, Shi J, Yang Y, Sadeghi H, Hong W. Supramolecular Radical Electronics. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:17232-17241. [PMID: 37493612 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c04323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/27/2023]
Abstract
Supramolecular radical chemistry is an emerging area bridging supramolecular chemistry and radical chemistry, and the integration of radicals into the supramolecular architecture offers a new dimension for tuning their structures and functions. Although various efforts have been devoted to the fabrication of supramolecular junctions, the charge transport characterization through the supramolecular radicals remained unexplored due to the challenges in creating supramolecular radicals at the single-molecule level. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication and charge transport investigation of a supramolecular radical junction using the electrochemical scanning tunneling microscope-based break junction (EC-STM-BJ) technique. We found that the conductance of a supramolecular radical junction was more than 1 order of magnitude higher than that of a supramolecular junction without a radical and even higher than that of a fully conjugated oligophenylenediamine molecule with a similar length. The combined experimental and theoretical investigations revealed that the radical increased the binding energy and decreased the energy gap in the supramolecular radical junction, which leads to the near-resonant transport through the supramolecular radical. Our work demonstrated that the supramolecular radical can provide not only strong binding but also efficient electrical coupling between building blocks, which provides new insights into supramolecular radical chemistry and new materials with supramolecular radicals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tengyang Gao
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology & Institute of Artificial Intelligence & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Abdalghani Daaoub
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Zhichao Pan
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology & Institute of Artificial Intelligence & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Yong Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology & Institute of Artificial Intelligence & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Saisai Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology & Institute of Artificial Intelligence & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Yaoguang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology & Institute of Artificial Intelligence & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Gang Dong
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology & Institute of Artificial Intelligence & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Ruiyun Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology & Institute of Artificial Intelligence & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Junyang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology & Institute of Artificial Intelligence & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Sara Sangtarash
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Jia Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology & Institute of Artificial Intelligence & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Yang Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology & Institute of Artificial Intelligence & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Hatef Sadeghi
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Wenjing Hong
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology & Institute of Artificial Intelligence & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
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2
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Daaoub A, Morris JMF, Béland VA, Demay‐Drouhard P, Hussein A, Higgins SJ, Sadeghi H, Nichols RJ, Vezzoli A, Baumgartner T, Sangtarash S. Not So Innocent After All: Interfacial Chemistry Determines Charge-Transport Efficiency in Single-Molecule Junctions. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2023; 62:e202302150. [PMID: 37029093 PMCID: PMC10953449 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202302150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Revised: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 04/09/2023]
Abstract
Most studies in molecular electronics focus on altering the molecular wire backbone to tune the electrical properties of the whole junction. However, it is often overlooked that the chemical structure of the groups anchoring the molecule to the metallic electrodes influences the electronic structure of the whole system and, therefore, its conductance. We synthesised electron-accepting dithienophosphole oxide derivatives and fabricated their single-molecule junctions. We found that the anchor group has a dramatic effect on charge-transport efficiency: in our case, electron-deficient 4-pyridyl contacts suppress conductance, while electron-rich 4-thioanisole termini promote efficient transport. Our calculations show that this is due to minute changes in charge distribution, probed at the electrode interface. Our findings provide a framework for efficient molecular junction design, especially valuable for compounds with strong electron withdrawing/donating backbones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdalghani Daaoub
- Device Modelling GroupSchool of EngineeringUniversity of WarwickCoventryCV4 7ALUK
| | - James M. F. Morris
- Department of ChemistryUniversity of LiverpoolCrown StreetLiverpoolL69 7ZDUK
| | - Vanessa A. Béland
- Department of ChemistryYork University4700 Keele StreetTorontoON, M3J 1P3Canada
| | - Paul Demay‐Drouhard
- Department of ChemistryYork University4700 Keele StreetTorontoON, M3J 1P3Canada
| | - Amaar Hussein
- Department of ChemistryYork University4700 Keele StreetTorontoON, M3J 1P3Canada
| | - Simon J. Higgins
- Department of ChemistryUniversity of LiverpoolCrown StreetLiverpoolL69 7ZDUK
| | - Hatef Sadeghi
- Device Modelling GroupSchool of EngineeringUniversity of WarwickCoventryCV4 7ALUK
| | - Richard J. Nichols
- Department of ChemistryUniversity of LiverpoolCrown StreetLiverpoolL69 7ZDUK
| | - Andrea Vezzoli
- Department of ChemistryUniversity of LiverpoolCrown StreetLiverpoolL69 7ZDUK
| | - Thomas Baumgartner
- Department of ChemistryYork University4700 Keele StreetTorontoON, M3J 1P3Canada
| | - Sara Sangtarash
- Device Modelling GroupSchool of EngineeringUniversity of WarwickCoventryCV4 7ALUK
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3
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Zhang H, Zhou P, Daaoub A, Sangtarash S, Zhao S, Yang Z, Zhou Y, Zou YL, Decurtins S, Häner R, Yang Y, Sadeghi H, Liu SX, Hong W. Atomically well-defined nitrogen doping for cross-plane transport through graphene heterojunctions. Chem Sci 2023; 14:6079-6086. [PMID: 37293661 PMCID: PMC10246689 DOI: 10.1039/d3sc00075c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The nitrogen doping of graphene leads to graphene heterojunctions with a tunable bandgap, suitable for electronic, electrochemical, and sensing applications. However, the microscopic nature and charge transport properties of atomic-level nitrogen-doped graphene are still unknown, mainly due to the multiple doping sites with topological diversities. In this work, we fabricated atomically well-defined N-doped graphene heterojunctions and investigated the cross-plane transport through these heterojunctions to reveal the effects of doping on their electronic properties. We found that a different doping number of nitrogen atoms leads to a conductance difference of up to ∼288%, and the conductance of graphene heterojunctions with nitrogen-doping at different positions in the conjugated framework can also lead to a conductance difference of ∼170%. Combined ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy measurements and theoretical calculations reveal that the insertion of nitrogen atoms into the conjugation framework significantly stabilizes the frontier molecular orbitals, leading to a change in the relative positions of the HOMO and LUMO to the Fermi level of the electrodes. Our work provides a unique insight into the role of nitrogen doping in the charge transport through graphene heterojunctions and materials at the single atomic level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hewei Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
| | - Ping Zhou
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern Freiestrasse 3 3012 Bern Switzerland
| | - Abdalghani Daaoub
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7AL UK
| | - Sara Sangtarash
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7AL UK
| | - Shiqiang Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
| | - Zixian Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
| | - Yu Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
| | - Yu-Ling Zou
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
| | - Silvio Decurtins
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern Freiestrasse 3 3012 Bern Switzerland
| | - Robert Häner
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern Freiestrasse 3 3012 Bern Switzerland
| | - Yang Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
| | - Hatef Sadeghi
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7AL UK
| | - Shi-Xia Liu
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern Freiestrasse 3 3012 Bern Switzerland
| | - Wenjing Hong
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
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4
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Xu X, Wang J, Blankevoort N, Daaoub A, Sangtarash S, Shi J, Fang C, Yuan S, Chen L, Liu J, Yang Y, Sadeghi H, Hong W. Scaling of quantum interference from single molecules to molecular cages and their monolayers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2211786119. [PMID: 36343232 PMCID: PMC9674264 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2211786119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The discovery of quantum interference (QI) is widely considered as an important advance in molecular electronics since it provides unique opportunities for achieving single-molecule devices with unprecedented performance. Although some pioneering studies suggested the presence of spin qubit coherence and QI in collective systems such as thin films, it remains unclear whether the QI can be transferred step-by-step from single molecules to different length scales, which hinders the application of QI in fabricating active molecular devices. Here, we found that QI can be transferred from a single molecule to their assemblies. We synthesized and investigated the charge transport through the molecular cages using 1,3-dipyridylbenzene (DPB) as a ligand block with a destructive quantum interference (DQI) effect and 2,5-dipyridylfuran (DPF) as a control building block with a constructive quantum interference (CQI) effect using both single-molecule break junction and large area junction techniques. Combined experiments and calculations revealed that both DQI and CQI had been transferred from the ligand blocks to the molecular cages and the monolayer thin film of the cages. Our work introduced QI effects from a ligand to the molecular cage comprising 732 atoms and even their monolayers, suggesting that the quantum interference could be scaled up within the phase-coherent distance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaohui Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Juejun Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Nickel Blankevoort
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Abdalghani Daaoub
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Sara Sangtarash
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Jie Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Chao Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Saisai Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Lichuan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Junyang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Yang Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Hatef Sadeghi
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Wenjing Hong
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
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5
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Daaoub A, Ornago L, Vogel D, Bastante P, Sangtarash S, Parmeggiani M, Kamer J, Agraït N, Mayor M, van der Zant H, Sadeghi H. Engineering Transport Orbitals in Single-Molecule Junctions. J Phys Chem Lett 2022; 13:9156-9164. [PMID: 36166407 PMCID: PMC9549519 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.2c01851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Controlling charge transport through molecules is challenging because it requires engineering of the energy of molecular orbitals involved in the transport process. While side groups are central to maintaining solubility in many molecular materials, their role in modulating charge transport through single-molecule junctions has received less attention. Here, using two break-junction techniques and computational modeling, we investigate systematically the effect of electron-donating and -withdrawing side groups on the charge transport through single molecules. By characterizing the conductance and thermopower, we demonstrate that side groups can be used to manipulate energy levels of the transport orbitals. Furthermore, we develop a novel statistical approach to model quantum transport through molecular junctions. The proposed method does not treat the electrodes' chemical potential as a free parameter and leads to more robust prediction of electrical conductance as confirmed by our experiment. The new method is generic and can be used to predict the conductance of molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abdalghani Daaoub
- School
of Engineering, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Luca Ornago
- Kavli
Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University
of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands
| | - David Vogel
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Basel, St. Johanns-Ring 19, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Pablo Bastante
- Departamento
de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Sara Sangtarash
- School
of Engineering, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Matteo Parmeggiani
- Department
of Applied Science and Technology (DISAT), Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
| | - Jerry Kamer
- Kavli
Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University
of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Nicolás Agraït
- Departamento
de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Marcel Mayor
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Basel, St. Johanns-Ring 19, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
- Institute
for Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute
of Technology (KIT), P.O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
- Lehn
Institute of Functional Materials (LIFM), School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University (SYSU), 510275 Guangzhou, China
| | - Herre van der Zant
- Kavli
Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University
of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Hatef Sadeghi
- School
of Engineering, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL Coventry, United Kingdom
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6
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Hurtado-Gallego J, Sangtarash S, Davidson R, Rincón-García L, Daaoub A, Rubio-Bollinger G, Lambert CJ, Oganesyan VS, Bryce MR, Agraït N, Sadeghi H. Thermoelectric Enhancement in Single Organic Radical Molecules. Nano Lett 2022; 22:948-953. [PMID: 35073099 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c03698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Organic thermoelectric materials have potential for wearable heating, cooling, and energy generation devices at room temperature. For this to be technologically viable, high-conductance (G) and high-Seebeck-coefficient (S) materials are needed. For most semiconductors, the increase in S is accompanied by a decrease in G. Here, using a combined experimental and theoretical investigation, we demonstrate that a simultaneous enhancement of S and G can be achieved in single organic radical molecules, thanks to their intrinsic spin state. A counterintuitive quantum interference (QI) effect is also observed in stable Blatter radical molecules, where constructive QI occurs for a meta-connected radical, leading to further enhancement of thermoelectric properties. Compared to an analogous closed-shell molecule, the power factor is enhanced by more than 1 order of magnitude in radicals. These results open a new avenue for the development of organic thermoelectric materials operating at room temperature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Hurtado-Gallego
- Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Sara Sangtarash
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Ross Davidson
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
| | - Laura Rincón-García
- Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Abdalghani Daaoub
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL Coventry, United Kingdom
| | - Gabino Rubio-Bollinger
- Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
- Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC) and Instituto Universitatio de Ciencia de Materiales "Nicolás Cabrera" (INC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Colin J Lambert
- Physics Department, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, United Kingdom
| | - Vasily S Oganesyan
- School of Chemistry, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom
| | - Martin R Bryce
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
| | - Nicolás Agraït
- Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
- Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC) and Instituto Universitatio de Ciencia de Materiales "Nicolás Cabrera" (INC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
- Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados en Nanociencia IMDEA-Nanociencia, E-28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Hatef Sadeghi
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick, CV4 7AL Coventry, United Kingdom
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7
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O’Driscoll LJ, Sangtarash S, Xu W, Daaoub A, Hong W, Sadeghi H, Bryce MR. Heteroatom Effects on Quantum Interference in Molecular Junctions: Modulating Antiresonances by Molecular Design. J Phys Chem C Nanomater Interfaces 2021; 125:17385-17391. [PMID: 34476041 PMCID: PMC8397347 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c04242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Revised: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Controlling charge transport through molecular wires by utilizing quantum interference (QI) is a growing topic in single-molecular electronics. In this article, scanning tunneling microscopy-break junction techniques and density functional theory calculations are employed to investigate the single-molecule conductance properties of four molecules that have been specifically designed to test extended curly arrow rules (ECARs) for predicting QI in molecular junctions. Specifically, for two new isomeric 1-phenylpyrrole derivatives, the conductance pathway between the gold electrodes must pass through a nitrogen atom: this novel feature is designed to maximize the influence of the heteroatom on conductance properties and has not been the subject of prior investigations of QI. It is shown, experimentally and computationally, that the presence of a nitrogen atom in the conductance pathway increases the effect of changing the position of the anchoring group on the phenyl ring from para to meta, in comparison with biphenyl analogues. This effect is explained in terms of destructive QI (DQI) for the meta-connected pyrrole and shifted DQI for the para-connected isomer. These results demonstrate modulation of antiresonances by molecular design and verify the validity of ECARs as a simple "pen-and-paper" method for predicting QI behavior. The principles offer new fundamental insights into structure-property relationships in molecular junctions and can now be exploited in a range of different heterocycles for molecular electronic applications, such as switches based on external gating, or in thermoelectric devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke J. O’Driscoll
- Department
of Chemistry, Durham University, Lower Mountjoy, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LE, U.K.
| | - Sara Sangtarash
- School
of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K.
| | - Wei Xu
- State
Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, NEL,
College of Chemistry and Chemical
Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Abdalghani Daaoub
- School
of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K.
| | - Wenjing Hong
- State
Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, NEL,
College of Chemistry and Chemical
Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Hatef Sadeghi
- School
of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, U.K.
| | - Martin R. Bryce
- Department
of Chemistry, Durham University, Lower Mountjoy, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LE, U.K.
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8
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Yuan S, Xu X, Daaoub A, Fang C, Cao W, Chen H, Sangtarash S, Zhang J, Sadeghi H, Hong W. Single-atom control of electrical conductance and thermopower through single-cluster junctions. Nanoscale 2021; 13:12594-12601. [PMID: 34259698 DOI: 10.1039/d1nr02734d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The control of single atoms offers fundamental insight into understanding the charge transport through single clusters, and the atomic precision of the clusters provides the opportunity to manipulate the charge transport even at the single-atom level. Herein, we designed and investigated the electrical conductance and thermopower of Anderson-type polyoxometalate (POM) clusters with single-atom variation using the scanning tunneling microscopy break-junction (STM-BJ) technique. Our results show the electrical conductance of single clusters can be changed by an order of magnitude by substituting different center-metal atoms, and the electrical conductance of clusters shows different bias-dependence. Furthermore, the Seebeck coefficients of the POM clusters also can be significantly changed by the center-metal atoms. The non-equilibrium quantum transport calculations reveal that the electrostatic potential profile is non-uniformly dependent on the center-metal atoms. This leads to gating of electrical conductance by bias voltage. This supports the tuning of thermopower and bias dependent transmission spectra. This work provides the fundamental understanding of single-atom control of charge transport in POM single-cluster junctions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saisai Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Xiamen University Xiamen, 361005, China.
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9
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Planje IJ, Davidson RJ, Vezzoli A, Daaoub A, Sangtarash S, Sadeghi H, Martín S, Cea P, Lambert CJ, Beeby A, Higgins SJ, Nichols RJ. Selective Anchoring Groups for Molecular Electronic Junctions with ITO Electrodes. ACS Sens 2021; 6:530-537. [PMID: 33471521 DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.0c02205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Indium tin oxide (ITO) is an attractive substrate for single-molecule electronics since it is transparent while maintaining electrical conductivity. Although it has been used before as a contacting electrode in single-molecule electrical studies, these studies have been limited to the use of carboxylic acid terminal groups for binding molecular wires to the ITO substrates. There is thus the need to investigate other anchoring groups with potential for binding effectively to ITO. With this aim, we have investigated the single-molecule conductance of a series of eight tolane or "tolane-like" molecular wires with a variety of surface binding groups. We first used gold-molecule-gold junctions to identify promising targets for ITO selectivity. We then assessed the propensity and selectivity of carboxylic acid, cyanoacrylic acid, and pyridinium-squarate to bind to ITO and promote the formation of molecular heterojunctions. We found that pyridinium squarate zwitterions display excellent selectivity for binding to ITO over gold surfaces, with contact resistivity comparable to that of carboxylic acids. These single-molecule experiments are complemented by surface chemical characterization with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, quartz crystal microbalance, contact angle determination, and nanolithography using an atomic force miscroscope. Finally, we report the first density-functional theory calculations involving ITO electrodes to model charge transport through ITO-molecule-gold heterojunctions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Inco J. Planje
- Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Crown St, Liverpool L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - Ross J. Davidson
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, South Rd, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
| | - Andrea Vezzoli
- Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Crown St, Liverpool L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - Abdalghani Daaoub
- School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Sara Sangtarash
- School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
- Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YW, United Kingdom
| | - Hatef Sadeghi
- School of Engineering, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
| | - Santiago Martín
- Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón (INMA), Universidad de Zaragoza-CSIC, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
- Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Pilar Cea
- Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón (INMA), Universidad de Zaragoza-CSIC, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
- Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Colin J. Lambert
- Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YW, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew Beeby
- Department of Chemistry, Durham University, South Rd, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
| | - Simon J. Higgins
- Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Crown St, Liverpool L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
| | - Richard J. Nichols
- Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Crown St, Liverpool L69 7ZD, United Kingdom
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10
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Daaoub A, Sangtarash S, Sadeghi H. Switching Quantum Interference in Phenoxyquinone Single Molecule Junction with Light. Nanomaterials (Basel) 2020; 10:nano10081544. [PMID: 32781791 PMCID: PMC7466391 DOI: 10.3390/nano10081544] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2020] [Revised: 08/02/2020] [Accepted: 08/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Quantum interference (QI) can lead to large variations in single molecule conductance. However, controlling QI using external stimuli is challenging. The molecular structure of phenoxyquinone can be tuned reversibly using light stimulus. In this paper, we show that this can be utilized to control QI in phenoxyquinone derivatives. Our calculations indicate that, as a result of such variation in molecular structure of phenoxyquinone, a crossover from destructive to constructive QI is induced. This leads to a significant variation in the single molecule conductance by a couple of orders of magnitude. This control of QI using light is a new paradigm in photosensitive single molecule switches and opens new avenues for future QI-based photoswitches.
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11
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Bai J, Daaoub A, Sangtarash S, Li X, Tang Y, Zou Q, Sadeghi H, Liu S, Huang X, Tan Z, Liu J, Yang Y, Shi J, Mészáros G, Chen W, Lambert C, Hong W. Anti-resonance features of destructive quantum interference in single-molecule thiophene junctions achieved by electrochemical gating. Nat Mater 2019; 18:364-369. [PMID: 30742083 DOI: 10.1038/s41563-018-0265-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2018] [Accepted: 12/03/2018] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Controlling the electrical conductance and in particular the occurrence of quantum interference in single-molecule junctions through gating effects has potential for the realization of high-performance functional molecular devices. In this work we used an electrochemically gated, mechanically controllable break junction technique to tune the electronic behaviour of thiophene-based molecular junctions that show destructive quantum interference features. By varying the voltage applied to the electrochemical gate at room temperature, we reached a conductance minimum that provides direct evidence of charge transport controlled by an anti-resonance arising from destructive quantum interference. Our molecular system enables conductance tuning close to two orders of magnitude within the non-faradaic potential region, which is significantly higher than that achieved with molecules not showing destructive quantum interference. Our experimental results, interpreted using quantum transport theory, demonstrate that electrochemical gating is a promising strategy for obtaining improved in situ control over the electrical performance of interference-based molecular devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Bai
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | | | | | - Xiaohui Li
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Yongxiang Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Qi Zou
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Materials Protection and Advanced Materials in Electric Power, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai, China
| | - Hatef Sadeghi
- Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
| | - Shuai Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Xiaojuan Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Zhibing Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Junyang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Yang Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Jia Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
| | - Gábor Mészáros
- Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Wenbo Chen
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of Materials Protection and Advanced Materials in Electric Power, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai, China.
| | - Colin Lambert
- Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
| | - Wenjing Hong
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China.
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