Author : Matthaeus Anton Wolak
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (811 download)
Book Synopsis The Electronic Structure of Biomolecular Self-Assembled Monolayers by : Matthaeus Anton Wolak
Download or read book The Electronic Structure of Biomolecular Self-Assembled Monolayers written by Matthaeus Anton Wolak and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The studies presented here address the characterization of the electronic structure of various self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) and tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) SAMs and arrays, formed on gold substrates. PNA is a promising alternative to DNA for bio-sensing applications, as well as for strategies for self-assembly based on nucleic acid hybridization. In recent years charge transfer through PNA molecules was a focus of research due to possible applications in self-assembled molecular circuits and molecular tools. In light of this research it is interesting to investigate the electronic structure of PNA interfaces to gold, a potential electrode material. TPP is, due to its electronic structure, an organic p-type molecular semiconductor. Such a material can provide an alternative to standard micro- and optoelectronic devices and in recent years more attention was paid to semiconducting polymers and organic compounds offering these low-cost and flexible alternatives. Therefore, it is of high importance to investigate the prospect of using modified TPP molecules for the formation of interconnected molecular networks on metallic surfaces. All investigated monolayers were formed from solution in a nitrogen atmosphere inside a homemade glove box. This process allowed for PNA SAM and TPP SAM and array formation on clean Au substrates without the exposure to the ambient atmosphere. Ultraviolet and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (UPS and XPS) measurements on the resulting PNA SAMs and TPP SAMs and arrays, which were performed in a to the glove box attached vacuum chamber containing a photoemission spectrometer, revealed the hole injection barriers at the interfaces and the interface dipoles. In addition to the UPS and XPS measurements on PNA, electronic structure calculations based on molecular dynamics sampling of the PNA structure were obtained, yielding the HOMO-LUMO gap and the electronic density of states for PNA.