Issue 22, 2018

Electrical and SERS detection of disulfide-mediated dimerization in single-molecule benzene-1,4-dithiol junctions

Abstract

We applied a combination of mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ) and in situ surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) methods to investigate the long-standing single-molecule conductance discrepancy of prototypical benzene-1,4-dithiol (BDT) junctions. Single-molecule conductance characterization, together with configuration analysis of the molecular junction, suggested that disulfide-mediated dimerization of BDT contributed to the low conductance feature, which was further verified by the detection of S–S bond formation through in situ SERS characterization. Control experiments demonstrated that the disulfide-mediated dimerization could be tuned via the chemical inhibitor. Our findings suggest that a combined electrical and SERS method is capable of probing chemical reactions at the single-molecule level.

Graphical abstract: Electrical and SERS detection of disulfide-mediated dimerization in single-molecule benzene-1,4-dithiol junctions

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
13 2 2018
Accepted
30 4 2018
First published
01 5 2018
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., 2018,9, 5033-5038

Electrical and SERS detection of disulfide-mediated dimerization in single-molecule benzene-1,4-dithiol junctions

J. Zheng, J. Liu, Y. Zhuo, R. Li, X. Jin, Y. Yang, Z. Chen, J. Shi, Z. Xiao, W. Hong and Z. Tian, Chem. Sci., 2018, 9, 5033 DOI: 10.1039/C8SC00727F

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