Monolayer Structure of Arachidic Acid on Graphite

Thomas LK, Kühnle A, Rode S, Beginn U, Reichling M. Monolayer Structure of Arachidic Acid on Graphite. Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 2010;114(44):18919-18924.The self-assembly of arachidic acid (C(19)H(39)COOH) at the liquid solid interface between 1-phenyloctane (C(6)H(5)(CH(2))(7)CH(3)) and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) is studied by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to identify the structure of the monomolecular film. We observe the formation of highly ordered domains with molecules oriented in three different orientations compatible with the symmetry of the HOPG substrate, a spontaneous enantiomeric separation of the pro-chiral molecules, and reveal structural details with submolecular resolution. To determine the surface unit cell with an intrinsic calibration to the substrate atomic structure, the intermolecular distance is precisely determined from the analysis of a SIN image exhibiting a moire pattern created by the superposition of current contributions from the molecular structure with contributions from the graphite atomic lattice. The dimensions of the unit cell accommodating two molecules are vertical bar a vertical bar 0.94 nm and vertical bar b vertical bar = 2.83 nm with an angle of 85 degrees between unit cell vectors a and h. The respective molecular arrangement allows hydrogen bonding between carboxylic groups with an unrelaxed O-O bond distance of 0.31 nm

Low-dimensional architectures of some liquid-crystalline amphiphilic molecules on HOPG

1-D and 2-D organic nanostructures formed by supramolecular self-assembly on HOPG(0001)from molecules containing amide and carboxylic moieties have been investigated with scanning tunneling and force microscopy operated in ambient conditions. A Precise determination of the structure of the monolayer of arachidic acid on graphite was found from moire pattern resulting from tunneling current contributions from both the monolayer and the substrate. Wedge-shaped benzamide amphiphilic molecules deposited on HOPG mainly showed 1-D structures. Systematically varied molecular geometry and head groups reveal the architecture of nanowires which are distinctly different from their columnar mesophase in solution

Capillary force-induced superlattice variation atop a nanometer-wide graphene flake and its moiré origin studied by STM

We present strong experimental evidence for the moiré origin of superlattices on graphite by imaging a live transition from one superlattice to another with concurrent and direct measurement of the orientation angle before and after rotation using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). This has been possible due to a fortuitous observation of a superlattice on a nanometer-sized graphene flake wherein we have induced a further rotation of the flake utilizing the capillary forces at play at a solid–liquid interface using STM tip motion. We propose a more “realistic” tip–surface meniscus relevant to STM at solid–liquid interfaces and show that the capillary force is sufficient to account for the total expenditure of energy involved in the process