[Back]

T. Huynh, T. Phan, O. Ivasenko, S. Mertens, S. De Feyter:
"Nanoconfined self-assembly on a grafted graphitic surface under electrochemical control";
Nanoscale, 9 (2017), 362 - 368.

Highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) can be covalently grafted with aryl radicals generated via the
electrochemical reduction of 3,5-bis-tert-butyl-diazonium cations (3,5-TBD). The structure of the grafted
layer and its stability under electrochemical conditions were assessed with electrochemical scanning
tunneling microscopy (EC-STM) and cyclic voltammetry (CV). Stable within a wide (>2.5 V) electrochemical
window, the grafted species can be locally removed using EC-STM-tip nanolithography. Using
dibenzyl viologen as an example, we show that the generated nanocorrals of bare graphitic surface can
be used to study nucleation and growth of self-assembled structures under conditions of nanoconfinement
and electrochemical potential control.