Berlin 2018 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 71: Focus Session: Nanoscale Insights into Interfacial Electrochemistry II

O 71.4: Invited Talk

Wednesday, March 14, 2018, 16:15–16:45, HE 101

Single-Molecule Switching in 2D Materials at Solid-Liquid Interfaces — •Stijn F. L. Mertens — TU Wien, Institut für Angewandte Physik, 1040 Vienna, Austria

Living organisms are full of sophisticated molecular machines, and unravelling their structure and function continually inspires man-made nanotechnology, with expected applications from tribology to data storage.

In my talk, I will discuss mechanisms for controlled switching of the structure and properties of 2D materials at solid-liquid interfaces, from the collective scale down to single-molecule manipulation, at ambient temperatures and pressures. The 2D materials include self-assembled structures of tailored organic molecules but also hexagonal boron nitride, an atomically thin insulator. The switching events invariably depend on tipping the balance between intermolecular and adsorbate-substrate interactions, and may be controlled by a number of external stimuli: the interfacial potential at electrochemical solid-liquid interfaces, the chemical potential of ionic species in solution, intercalation of atomic species, or the electric field between an STM tip and the substrate.

References: Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 53, 12951 (2014); Chem. Commun. 50, 10376 (2014); Small 1702379 (2017); Nature 534, 676 (2016)