Growth of FeO(OH) crystals on self-assembled monolayers on gold

Calcite shape modulation through the lattice mismatch between the self-assembled monolayer template and the nucleated crystal face

“…In the first approach, calcite has been crystallized in the presence of different soluble organic molecules extracted from organisms, [9][10][11] ions, 12 or synthetic polymers 13,14 to observe their effect on crystal morphology. The second approach involves crystallization of calcite on various templates, such as Langmuir monolayers, [15][16][17] functionalized polymers, 18,19 inorganic substrates, 20,21 biological macromolecules 22 and self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), 8,23,24 to study the effect of the substrate on crystal orientation. SAMs of alkanethiols supported on coinage metals proved to be the most flexible in their ability to nucleate well controlled and versatile crystal orientations.…”

“…25 SAMs form highly ordered twodimensional crystals, which have been well characterized. 26 They were used as templates for controlled nucleation of other minerals, 23,27 semiconductors, 28,29 organic crystals, 30,31 and proteins. 32 Previously we have shown that a large range of nucleation faces could be observed for the growth of calcite crystals on different SAMs.…”

Soft-Chemical Growth ofγ-FeO(OH) Films on Self-Assembled Monolayers of Substituted Alkylthiols on Gold(111)

“…Preliminary investigations on these FeO(OH) films were reported earlier. [13] Of the approximately five polymorphs of FeO(OH), goethite and lepidocrocite are the most common. Lepidocrocite, which has the boehmite structure, is found in soils and is a component of rust.…”

Oriented crystal growth on organic monolayers

“…Most of the studies on crystallisation (like those cited above) have used calcium carbonate. However, a number of other minerals have been considered including strontium carbonate, 19 zinc oxide, 20 barium sulphate, 21 calcium phosphate, 22 hydroxyapatite 23 and hydrated iron oxides (lepidocrocite 24 and goethite 25 ). For a discussion of the use of SAMs to control the crystallisation of organic molecules, see the review of Singh et al 26 The length of the alkane chain can affect many properties of SAMs.…”