Abstract:

Fullerene has been extensively used in functional devices requiring electron transfer between fullerene and functional molecules. The investigation of multi-component assembly structures of fullerene and functional molecules on electrode surfaces will benefit the fabrication of fullerene based nanodevices as well as the study of their fundamental physical and chemical properties. The two dimensional (2D) self-assembly structure of C60 and the donor-π-acceptor molecule Z-β-(5-hexadecyloxy-1,3,3-trimethyl-2-indolium)-α-cyano-4-styryl dicyanomethanide (C16H33O-I3CNQ) on an Au(111) electrode surface was investigated by electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (ECSTM) in HClO4. The C16H33O-I3CNQ molecules self-organized into a short-ranged ordered structure on the Au(111) surface. C60 molecules formed band-like assembly structures templated by the C16H33O-I3CNQ adlayer. The orientation of the C60 band structure is controlled by the arrangement of the donor-π-acceptor moieties. π-π stacking interactions and charge transfer between C60 and C16H33O-I3CNQ may contribute to the formation of the C60 band-like assembly. The results reported here are expected to provide a new approach for the fabrication of fullerene films and functional devices.

Key words: Self-assembly, Fullerene, Donor-π-acceptor, Scanning tunneling microscopy, Band-like assembly