Chemical Sciences Seminars

Exploring the Complexity of Supramolecular Interactions at the Liquid-Solid Interface (Part I: Comprehension)

by Dr. Kunal S. Mali (Katholieke University, Leuven, Belgium)

Thursday, April 11, 2013 from to (Asia/Kolkata)
at Colaba Campus ( AG-80 )
TIFR, Colaba Mumbai 400005
Description Fabrication of surface-confined adlayers via self-assembly of molecular components provides one of the simple means of producing complex functional surfaces. The self-assembly process in turn relies on supramolecular interactions sustained by non-covalent forces such as van der Waals, electrostatic, dipole-dipole and hydrogen bonding interactions. In my first talk, I will discuss how these non-covalent bonding motifs could be exploited for obtaining well-defined two-dimensional (2D) architectures at the liquid-solid interface. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) was used as a nanoscale visualization tool. The fundamental aspects of molecular self-assembly at the liquid-solid interface, such as the influence of substrate, solvent, solution concentration and molecular geometry will be discussed by considering specific examples. The issue of competitive adsorption and mixing behavior will also be addressed. This talk will set a stage for advanced discussion on induction and manipulation of supramolecular networks to be presented in part II.

Keywords: self-assembly, liquid-solid interface, STM