A crown-ether loop-derivatized oligothiophene doubly attached on gold surface as cation-binding switchable molecular junction.

Tran, Truong Khoa; Smaali, Kacem; Hardouin, Marie; Bricaud, Quentin; Oçafrain, Maïténa; Blanchard, Philippe; Lenfant, Stéphane; Godey, Sylvie et al. · Adv Mater · 2013

basic_science · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

A crown-ether dithiol quaterthiophene is synthesized and immobilized on gold surface by double covalent fixation. UV-vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry show that the corresponding dithioester precursor can complex Pb(2+) in solution and that this property is maintained for monolayers of the dithiol on gold. Current-voltage measurements by eutectic GaIn drop contact on the monolayer show a significant increase (up to 1.6 × 10(3) times) of the current at low bias after Pb(2+) complexation.