Self-assembled monolayers of thiols and dithiols on gold: new challenges for a well-known system

Abstract

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiols and dialkanethiols on gold are key elements for building many systems and devices with applications in the wide field of nanotechnology. Despite the progress made in the knowledge of these fascinating two-dimensional molecular systems, there are still several "hot topics" that deserve special attention in order to understand and to control their physical and chemistry properties at the molecular level. This critical review focuses on some of these topics, including the nature of the molecule-gold interface, whose chemistry and structure remain elusive, the self-assembly process on planar and irregular surfaces, and on nanometre-sized objects, and the chemical reactivity and thermal stability of these systems in ambient and aqueous solutions, an issue which seriously limits their technological applications (375 references).

Surface modification-induced phase transformation of hexagonal close-packed gold square sheets

“…3) and the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data ( Supplementary Fig. 4) of the resulting product after purification confirmed that the oleylamine was exchanged by ODT, which was in agreement with the previous report 30 .…”

“…The effects of thiols and other sulfur-containing species (for example, sulfur (S) and H 2 S) on the surface structure of metals have been studied previously 30,[32][33][34] . It has been well documented that thiol molecules can induce surface reconstruction of gold films, for example, Au(111), due to the spontaneous formation of Au-S covalent bond 30,[35][36][37] .…”

Effect of Surface–Molecule Interactions on Molecular Loading Capacity of Nanoporous Gold Thin Films

“…As stated earlier, the packing density of SAMs increases with chain length 26 , thereby a monotonic increase in loading capacity is expected for np-Au surfaces modified with amino-thiol SAMs of increasing chain length. However, as the packing density increases, the alkanethiols become more brush-like and extend further away from the surface.…”

Investigation of the Kinetics of a Surface Photocatalytic Reaction in Two Dimensions with Surface‐enhanced Raman Scattering

“…Common characterization techniques for SAMs include grazing incidence angle IR spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning tunneling microscopy, and atomic force microscopy 7. SERS gives more localized, molecular information than grazing angle IR spectroscopy, whereas in the future, the combination with atomic force microscopy in tip‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy is expected to go to the extreme of combining both molecular information and nanoscale resolution 8.…”