Issue 43, 2019

Enhanced coupling through π-stacking in imidazole-based molecular junctions

Abstract

We demonstrate that imidazole based π–π stacked dimers form strong and efficient conductance pathways in single-molecule junctions using the scanning-tunneling microscope-break junction (STM-BJ) technique and density functional theory-based calculations. We first characterize an imidazole-gold contact by measuring the conductance of imidazolyl-terminated alkanes (im-N-im, N = 3–6). We show that the conductance of these alkanes decays exponentially with increasing length, indicating that the mechanism for electron transport is through tunneling or super-exchange. We also reveal that π–π stacked dimers can be formed between imidazoles and have better coupling than through-bond tunneling. These experimental results are rationalized by calculations of molecular junction transmission using non-equilibrium Green's function formalism. This study verifies the capability of imidazole as a Au-binding ligand to form stable single- and π-stacked molecule junctions at room temperature.

Graphical abstract: Enhanced coupling through π-stacking in imidazole-based molecular junctions

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
27 Jul 2019
Accepted
16 Sep 2019
First published
16 Sep 2019
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2019,10, 9998-10002

Enhanced coupling through π-stacking in imidazole-based molecular junctions

T. Fu, S. Smith, M. Camarasa-Gómez, X. Yu, J. Xue, C. Nuckolls, F. Evers, L. Venkataraman and S. Wei, Chem. Sci., 2019, 10, 9998 DOI: 10.1039/C9SC03760H

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements