The impact of grafted surface defects on the on-surface Schiff-base chemistry at the solid–liquid interface

Abstract

We investigate the effect of covalently modified graphitic surfaces on the formation of single-layer covalent organic frameworks (sCOFs) at the solid–liquid interface. The impact of different densities of grafted aryl species was tested on the on-surface synthesis of three distinct imine-based 2D sCOFs. The grafted aryl species that act as defects provide steric barriers to the progress of the Schiff-base reaction, and can be locally removed to start the 2D polymer healing process. This unique strategy provides a general approach to study in situ this dynamic covalent on-surface chemistry.