Coverage-Controlled Polymorphism of H-Bonded Networks on Au(111)

Nico Schmidt; Mihaela Enache; Laura Maggini; Remco W A Havenith; Davide Bonifazi; Meike Stöhr

doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b12260

Coverage-Controlled Polymorphism of H-Bonded Networks on Au(111)

J Phys Chem C Nanomater Interfaces. 2019 Mar 28;123(12):7151-7157. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b12260. Epub 2019 Mar 4.

Authors

Nico Schmidt¹, Mihaela Enache¹, Laura Maggini², Remco W A Havenith^{1

1

3}, Davide Bonifazi^{2

4}, Meike Stöhr¹

Affiliations

¹ Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials and Stratingh Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Groningen 9747 AG, The Netherlands.
² Namur Research College (NARC), University of Namur (UNamur), Rue de Bruxelles 61, 5000 Namur, Belgium.
³ Ghent Quantum Chemistry Group, University of Ghent, Gent 9000, Belgium.
⁴ School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT, U.K.

Abstract

We report on the self-assembly of a conformational flexible organic compound on Au(111) using scanning tunneling microscopy and low-energy electron diffraction measurements. We observed different conformers of the compound upon adsorption on the reconstructed Au(111) surface. Increasing the molecular coverage enhanced the lateral pressure, that is, parallel to the surface, favoring a coverage-controlled transition from a supramolecular network displaying only one molecular organization, into a polymorphic array with two coexisting arrangements. Our results give insights into the role of substrate-induced conformational changes on the formation of polymorphic supramolecular networks.