Supramolecular structures and dynamics of organic adsorbate layers at the solid-liquid interface

We report on atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) studies of the dynamic structure of adsorbate layers at the interface between highly oriented pyrolytic graphite and solutions of a fluorophore with two alkyl chains in phenyloctane. Layers grown above the saturation concentration showed a stable but highly corrugated surface. Below saturation an adsorbate film with a thickness of several molecular layers formed in equilibrium with the solution. The outer layers exhibit a dynamic supramolecular structure consisting of stripes with a spacing of 7 ± 1 nm. The cross-correlation analysis of several sequences of images revealed a characteristic reorganization time for the pattern of tens of seconds. By scanning at elevated forces (> 5 nN) the outer layers could be removed, thus revealing the structure of the first adsorbate layer, namely a stable stripe pattern. STM images of this first layer confirmed this stripe pattern and revealed details of the molecular arrangement at atomic resolution.     

Rotational tunnelling of methane on the surface of graphitized carbon blacks studied by neutron scattering spectroscopy

Rotational tunnelling transitions of methane adsorbed on the surface of graphitized carbon black have been observed by incoherent neutron inelastic scattering. Two transitions have been observed, at 58 μeV and 108 μeV, which arise from the barrier to rotation about axes parallel to the surface. The methane molecules undergo rotational diffusion about an axis perpendicular to the surface. The tunnelling transitions are quite sharp at 6 K but become broader as the temperature is raised. At 30 K the motion is best described as isotropic rotational diffusion. The tunnelling spectrum has been observed on two different graphitized carbon blacks, Vulcan III (71 m² g^?1) and Sterling FT (11 m² g^?1). the latter has a more homogeneous surface and gives a sharper spectrum. Tunnelling has also been observed for methane adsorbed on Sterling FT preplated with a monolayer of xenon. When a second layer of methane is added to the first the tunnelling spectrum becomes broad and an inelastic feature appears at higher energy corresponding to a slightly hindered rotation. The value of using tunnelling spectra of adsorbed species to test models of surface forces is discussed with examples of different atom—atom potential parameters.     

Supramolecular structures of coronene and alkane acids at the Au(111)-solution interface: a scanning tunneling microscopy study

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) is utilized to study the solution-solid interface formed between Au(111) and solutions of coronene in hexanoic, heptanoic, and octanoic acids. In all three cases adsorbed coronene is observed and lays flat on the metal surface. Heptanoic and hexanoic acid solutions produce a hexagonal symmetry monolayer. For the heptanoic and hexanoic cases, dipole-image dipole interactions and H bonding stabilize a surface structure in which 12 acid molecules surround each coronene and produce a coronene spacing of 1.45 nm. In the case of octanoic acid as solvent, the incorporation of the solvent into the monolayer is not as strongly favored. The coronene spacing can range from close-packed (1.2 nm) with no solvent presumed present in the monolayer, to 1.50 nm with up to 12 solvent molecules surrounding each coronene. The close-packed regions have hexagonal symmetry, as do those with the largest (1.5 nm) spacing. Heptanoic acid solutions give the clearest STM images and are associated with the most stable two-component monolayer. The present paper demonstrates that non-covalent interactions at the solution-metal interface can lead to complex multicomponent monolayer structures.     

扫描电子显微镜与扫描隧道显微镜联用装置

在ＫＹＫＹ－１０００Ｂ型扫描电子显微镜上所开发的与其联用的袖珍型扫描隧道显微镜主要有四个部分：（１）减震阻尼装置,（２）隧道探针,（３）探针扫描与逼近装置,（４）电子控制与图象采集系统。它的分辨率约为１ｎｍ,并用它观察了半导体光栅与硅上金膜的细微结构。     

Scanning tunnelling microscopy study of a columnar metallomesogen: bis(β-diketonato)palladium(II) complexes on graphite

Scanning tunnelling microscopy is used to analyse the structure of the columnar metallomesogen bis[1-(3',4',5'-trioctyloxyphenyl)-3-(4'-octyloxphenyl)prop [Pd(II)BPOC8], on the basal plane of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. It is observed with near molecular level resolution that adsorbed molecules form a regular two-dimensional (2D) arrangement on the surface. The intermolecular spacing in the 2D crystallization is significantly shorter than in the intercolumnar mesophase, indicating that the alkyl chains of adjacent molecules interdigitate. Change in the carbon length of alkyl side chain groups results in a change in molecular periodicity in the 2D crystal. Models for the unit cell are proposed based on computer simulation.     

Scanning tunnelling microscopy study of a columnar metallomesogen: bis(β-diketonato)palladium(II) complexes on graphite

Scanning tunnelling microscopy is used to analyse the structure of the columnar metallomesogen bis[1-(3′,4′,5′-trioctyloxyphenyl)-3-(4′-octyloxphenyl)prop [Pd(II)BPOC8], on the basal plane of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite. It is observed with near molecular level resolution that adsorbed molecules form a regular two-dimensional (2D) arrangement on the surface. The intermolecular spacing in the 2D crystallization is significantly shorter than in the intercolumnar mesophase, indicating that the alkyl chains of adjacent molecules interdigitate. Change in the carbon length of alkyl side chain groups results in a change in molecular periodicity in the 2D crystal. Models for the unit cell are proposed based on computer simulation.     

水热法合成CaWO4荧光体的研究

钨酸钙是X射线和紫外线常用的发光材料,通常都用高温固相反应法合成,我们曾研究过用微波热法合成[1].水热法是合成无机微孔材料、快离子导体等物质的重要方法,但用来合成荧光体仍少有报道.     

采用红外漫反射光谱研究纳米Si3N4的表面结构

采用付利叶红外漫反射光谱对激光法制取的具有不同化学组成的纳米Ｓｉ３Ｎ４粉（１５４－３０ｎｍ）的表面结构，室表面氧化及热稳定性进行了研究，结果表明新鲜的富氮粉体表面主要为硅胺基（Ｓｉ３－ｘＮＨｘ，ｘ＝１－３）结构，粉体暴露空气后硅胺基会与空气中的水分子反应形成硅醇基（ＳｉＯＨ）结构，具有不同组成的粉体随粉中氮含量的增大粒子表面硅胺基量也增加；富硅粉体表面硅胺基较少，其氧化主要为表面硅原子与空气中氧原     

Atom für Atom

Using the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope a metal‐free phthalocyanine has been transformed into a silver‐phthalocyanine on a surface. The individual reactions have been performed atom by atom. Each product has been imaged with the scanning tunnelling microscope. Along with the transformation of the molecule, controlled tautomerization and H hopping have been induced by injection of electrons and demonstrate the precision a state‐of‐the‐art scanning tunnelling microscope has reached.     

Intermolecular interactions in electron transfer through stretched helical peptides

The helical peptide Cys-Ala-Lys-(Glu-Ala-Ala-Ala-Lys)(2)-Ala-NH-(CH(2))(2)-SH has been organized forming a self-assembled monolayer on gold (0.602 peptides per nm(2)), its conductance behavior under stretching conditions being studied using scanning tunnelling microscopy and current sensing atomic force microscopy. The helical conformation of the peptide has been found to play a fundamental role in the conductance. Moreover, variation of the current upon molecular stretching indicates that peptides can be significantly elongated before the conductance drops to zero, the critical elongation being 1.22 ± 0.47 nm. Molecular dynamics simulations of a single peptide in the free state and of a variable number of peptides tethered to a gold surface (i.e. densities ranging from 0.026 to 1.295 peptides per nm(2)) have indicated that the helical conformation is intrinsically favored in solvated environments while in desolvated environments it is retained because of the fundamental role played by peptide-peptide intermolecular interactions. The structure obtained for the system with 24 tethered peptides, with a density of 0.634 peptides per nm(2) closest to the experimental one, is in excellent agreement with experimental observations. On the other hand, simulations in which a single molecule is submitted to different compression and stretching processes while the rest remain in the equilibrium have been used to mimic the variation of the tip-substrate distance in experimental measures. Results allowed us to identify the existence, and in some cases coexistence, of intermolecular and intramolecular ionic ladders, suggesting that peptide-mediated electron transfer occurs through the hopping mechanism. Finally, quantum mechanical calculations have been used to investigate the variation of the electronic structure upon compression and stretching deformations.     

淀粉功能化Fe_3O_4纳米簇球的制备与表征

以淀粉为表面活性剂,利用乙二醇溶剂热法一步制备了Fe3O4纳米簇球.采用X射线衍射仪、傅立叶变换红外光谱仪、扫描电镜等分析了产物的结构;采用热重分析仪测定了其热稳定性.结果表明:所得产物为直径约为230nm的簇球结构,构成簇球的纳米粒子直径约为10nm;引入淀粉成功地改善了产物的纳米结构和表面性能.合成的Fe3O4纳米簇球具有独特的结构和表面性能,在生物领域具有潜在的应用前景.     

Scanning tunnelling microscopic investigation of fullerene monolayers

C(60) fullerene monolayers have been investigated by scanning tunnelling microscopy/spectroscopy. Single C(60) molecules have been resolved and a regular surface lattice structure of fullerene - in - surfactant is observed. Tunnel electron spectroscopic measurements results in typical I(V) curves which are interpreted in terms of the two-junction Coulomb blockade effect.     

4-[4-((4-吡啶基)乙烯基)苯乙烯基]-N,N-二正丁基苯胺的合成及光电性质研究

本文报道了4-[4-((4-吡啶基)乙烯基)苯乙烯基]-N,N-二正丁基苯胺的合成及晶体结构,并讨论了它的吸收光谱、荧光光谱、荧光寿命、荧光量子产率及电致发光性质.该分子晶体属于三斜晶系, P-1空间群,晶胞参数为:a=1.0101(3) nm, b=1.0352(2) nm, c=2.6220(5) nm, Z=4, V=2.4224(10) nm³, R₁=0.1006, wR₂=0.1818.研究结果表明,该化合物在电致发光方面有潜在的应用价值.CCDC号:815101.     

规整中孔TiO2微球的均相沉淀合成及其在环戊烯氧化反应中的应用

TiO2作为重要的功能性环保无机材料, 因具有特殊的光电性质和物化性能而广泛应用于介(压)电材料、涂料及催化等领域[1～3]. 戊二醛(Glutaraldehyde)是一种重要的精细化学品, 但其生产工艺复杂、条件苛刻. 邓景发等[4]成功开发了以环戊烯为原料, 双氧水为氧化剂, 均相钨酸为催化剂的新型一步法合成路线, 工艺操作简单, 降低了生产成本. 但由于均相催化剂分离复杂, 其固载化方法正在研究中[5～7]. 本文以TiCl4为前驱体, 在均相醇-水热体系中首次合成了高比表面积和规整中孔结构的TiO2微球(约3.6 μm), 其外壳约100 nm, 空隙壳层约300 nm. 考察了制备条件对TiO2微球结构的影响, 并采用孔分布, XRD, SEM及TEM等手段对该TiO2微球进行了表征, 同时考察了TiO2微球负载的WO3催化剂在环戊烯催化氧化合成戊二醛中的反应行为, 并与其它载体进行了比较.     

Atom resolved evidence for a defective chemisorbed oxygen state at a Mg(0001) surface

A chemisorbed oxygen state has been revealed for the first time by scanning tunnelling microscopy to be present at the interface between a (1 x 1)-O structure and overlying magnesium atoms; the step-height at the interface is between 0.14 and 0.15 nm and compatible with the presence of O delta- like states.     

A flexible triangulation method to describe the solvent-accessible surface of biopolymers

A relatively simple protein solvent-accessible surface triangulation method for continuum electrostatics applications employing the boundary element method is presented. First, the protein is placed onto a three-dimensional lattice with a specified lattice spacing. To each lattice point, a box is assigned. Boxes located in the solvent region and in the interior of the protein are removed from the set. Improper connections between boxes and the possible existence of cavities in the interior of the protein which would destroy the proper connectivity of the triangulated surface are taken care of. The remaining set of boxes define the outer contour of the protein. Each free face exposed to the solvent of the remaining set of boxes is triangulated after the surface defined by the free faces has been smoothed to follow the shape of the macromolecule more accurately. The final step consists of a mapping of triangle vertices onto a set of surface points which define the solvent-accessible surface. Normal vectors at triangle vertices are obtained also from the free faces which define the orientation of the surface. The algorithm was tested for six molecules including four proteins; a dipeptide, a helical peptide consisting of 25 residues, calbindin, lysozyme, calmodulin and cutinase. For each molecule, total areas have been calculated and compared with the result computed from a dotted solvent-accessible surface. Since the boundary element method requires a low number of vertices and triangles to reduce the number of unknowns for reasons of efficiency, the number of triangles should not be too high. Nevertheless, credible results are obtained for the total area with relative errors not exceeding 12% for a large lattice spacing (0.30 nm) while close to zero for a smaller lattice spacing (down to 0.16 nm). The output of the triangulation computer program (written in C++) is rather simple so that it can be easily converted to any format acceptable for any molecular graphics programs.     

Radiation damage in dielectric and semiconductor single crystals (direct observation)

The surfaces of boron-doped synthetic and natural diamonds have been investigated by using the scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) and the scanning electronic microscope (SEM) before and after irradiating the samples with ⁴⁰Ar (25 MeV), ⁸⁴Kr (210 MeV) and ¹²⁵Xe (124 MeV) ions. The structures observed after irradiation showed craters with diameters ranging from 3 nm up to 20 nm, which could be interpreted as single ion tracks and multiple hits of ions at the nearest positions of the surface. In the case of argon ion irradiation, the surface was found to be completely amorphous, but after xenon irradiation one could see parts of surface without amorphism. This can be explained by the influence of high inelastic energy losses. The energy and temperature criteria of crater formation as a result of heavy ion irradiation are introduced.     

Self-assembling structures of long-chain sugar-based amphiphiles influenced by the introduction of double bonds

Nine phenyl glucoside or galactoside amphiphiles possessing a saturated or unsaturated long alkyl-chain group as the self-assembling unit of a highly organized molecular architecture were synthesized. Their self-assembly properties were investigated by using energy-filtering TEM (EF-TEM), SEM, CD, XRD, and FT-IR techniques. Compound 2, possessing one cis double bond in the lipophilic portion, exhibited twisted helical fibers, which formed a bilayered structure with a 3.59 nm period, while 3 exhibited helical ribbons and left-handed nanotubular structures with 150-200 nm inner diameters and a wall thickness of approximately 20 nm. Very interestingly, 4, possessing three cis double bonds, exhibited a nanotubular structure with an inner diameter of approximately 70 nm and a d spacing value of 4.62 nm. On the other hand, 7, possessing two trans double bonds in the lipophilic region, exhibited crystal- or plate-like structures, which formed a bilayer structure with a d spacing value of 3.93 nm. These results indicate that the self-assembly properties are strongly dependent on the type of double bond. Furthermore, 8 and 9, with the galactopyranose moiety, revealed helical ribbon and well-defined double helical fiber structures, respectively. These findings support the view that the orientation of the intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interaction between the sugar moieties plays a critical role in producing the nanotubular structures. According to CD and powder XRD experiments, the relatively strong intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interaction of the glucopyranoside moiety in 3 and 4 provided a highly ordered chiral packing structure. Even though these compounds formed a weak hydrophobic interaction between lipophilic groups, it led to the formation of the nanotubular structure.     

三环己基锡吡啶-4-甲酸酯聚合物的合成、结构和量子化学研究

双齿配体吡啶-4-甲酸与三环己基氢氧化锡反应,合成了三环己基锡吡啶-4-甲酸酯聚合物[Cy3Sn(O2CC5H4N)]n(Cy为环己基)。经IR、1H NMR、元素分析和X射线衍射表征结构,晶体结构属单斜晶系,空间群P21/c,晶体学参数:a=1.222 4(4)nm,b=0.980 9(5)nm,c=2.089 9(9)nm,β=107.238(3)°,Z=4,V=2.393 6(4)nm3,Dc=1.360 g.cm-3,μ(Mo Kα)=1.085 mm-1,F(000)=1 016,R1=0.028 2,wR2=0.068 4。中心锡原子为五配位三角双锥构型,通过吡啶-4-甲酸的1个氧和吡啶氮原子配位成链。两条相邻的链之间经氢键(C-H…O)作用组成"双链"结构,"双链"之间通过环己基H与另链的吡啶环发生σ→π作用形成二维结构。利用量子化学G98W软件,在lan12dz基组对配合物的稳定性、前沿分子轨道组成及能量进行研究。     

Position matters: competing O-H and N-H photodissociation pathways in hydroxy- and methoxy-substituted indoles

H (Rydberg) atom photofragment translational spectroscopy (HRA-PTS) and complete active space with second order perturbation theory (CASPT2) methods have been used to explore the competing N-H and O-H bond dissociation pathways of 4- and 5-hydroxyindoles (HI) and methoxyindoles (MI). When 4-HI was excited to bound (1)L(b) levels, (λ(phot) ≤ 284.893 nm) O-H bond fission was demonstrated by assignment of the structure within the resulting total kinetic energy release (TKER) spectra. By analogy with phenol, dissociation was deduced to occur by H atom tunnelling under the barrier associated with the lower diabats of the (1)L(b)/(1)πσ*((OH)) conical intersection (CI). No evidence was found for a significant N-H bond dissociation yield at these or shorter excitation wavelengths (284.893 ≥ λ(phot) ≥ 193.3 nm). Companion studies of 4-MI revealed different reaction dynamics. In this case, N-H bond fission is deduced to occur at λ(phot) ≤ 271.104 nm, by direct excitation to the (1)πσ*((NH)) state. Analysis of the measured TKER spectra implies a mechanism wherein, as in pyrrole, the (1)πσ*((NH)) state gains oscillator strength by intensity borrowing from nearby bound states with higher oscillator strengths. HRA-PTS studies of 5-HI, in contrast, showed no evidence for O-H bond dissociation when excited on (1)L(b) levels. The present CASPT2 calculations assist in rationalizing this observation: the area underneath the (1)L(b)/(1)πσ* CI diabats in 5-HI is ~60% greater than the corresponding area in 4-HI and O-H bond dissociation by tunnelling is thus much less probable. Only by reducing the wavelength to ≤ 255 nm were signs of N-H and/or O-H bond dissociation identified. By comparison with companion 5-MI studies, we deduce little O-H bond fission in 5-HI at λ(phot) > 235 nm and that N-H bond fission is the dominant source of H atoms in the wavelength region 255 > λ(phot) > 235 nm. The very different dissociation dynamics of 4- and 5-HI are traced to the position of the -OH substituent, and its effect on the overall electronic structure.