基于电化学方法研究以铜和银为电极的对苯二甲酸单分子结电导

利用基于电化学跳跃接触的扫描隧道显微镜裂结法(ECSTM-BJ), 通过现场形成金属电极, 对以Cu和Ag为电极的对苯二甲酸单分子结电导进行了测量. 研究结果表明: 利用该方法对所有数据直接线性统计即可得到很好结果; 两种电极下都存在两套高和低电导值, 其中以Cu为电极的单分子结电导高低值分别为11.5和4.0 nS, 而以Ag为电极的单分子结电导分别为10.3和3.8 nS, 高值都约为低值的3倍, 且以Cu为电极的单分子结电导要略大于以Ag为电极的电导, 可归结于电极和分子的耦合不同造成的. 与同样条件下测量得到的烷基链羧酸单分子结电导只存在一套值相比,对苯二甲酸表现出两套电导值, 反应了分子内主链对分子结电导的影响.

Single-Molecule Junction Conductance of Terephthalic Acid Contacting Ag and Cu Electrodes Measured by an Electrochemical Method

The single-molecule junction conductance of terephthalic acid binding to Cu andAg electrodes was measured by an electrochemical jump-to-contact scanning tunneling microscopy break junction (ECSTM-BJ) approach. The Cu andAg electrodes were formed in-situ, via electrodeposition froma solution. The conductance histograms of the single-molecule junctions formed via the binding of terephthalic acid to the Cu and Ag electrodes showed a well-defined shape, in the absence of any data selection. The single-molecule junction conductance values for the terephthalic acid binding to the Cu electrode were 11.5 nS (high conductance) and 4 nS (lowconductance), while the high and lowconductance values for theAg electrode were 10.3 and 3.8 nS, respectively. The high conductance values were typically approximately three times larger than the low conductance values, for both the Cu and the Ag electrodes. The conductance (G) value for the terephthalic acid followed the order of G_Cu>G_Ag, which indicated the different electronic coupling efficiencies between the molecule and electrodes. In contrast with the single set conductance value measured for alkanedicarboxylic acid using the same approach, two set conductance values were found for the terephthalic acid junctions with the Cu and Ag electrodes. These results illustrated the important role of the backbone of the chain in conductance measurements. The present work demonstrated the influence of the electrode and the molecular structure on the single-molecule junction conductance.