| AVS 54th International Symposium | |
| Surface Science | Thursday Sessions |
| Session SS-ThP |
| Session: | Surface Science Poster Session |
| Presenter: | M.T. Weidner, University of Washington |
| Authors: | M.T. Weidner, University of Washington A. Shaporenko, Universität Heidelberg, Germany J. Müller, University of Marburg, Germany M. Höltig, University of Marburg, Germany A. Terfort, University of Marburg, Germany M. Zharnikov, Universität Heidelberg, Germany |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of tellurolates are promising alternatives to most frequently used thiolate-based systems. In this study we present first experimental data on SAMs of aromatic tellurolates. These SAMs were fabricated on Au(111) and Ag(111) substrates from a ditelluride precursor, bis(4’-methylbiphenyl-4-yl) ditelluride (BBPDTe) and characterized by high resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. BBPDTe was found to adsorb dissociatively on both substrates, resulting in the formation of well-defined, densely packed, and ordered BPTe SAMs, with a larger molecular inclination, a lower packing density, and inferior crystallinity on Au than on Ag. However, both BPTe/Au and BPTe/Ag were not stable under ambient conditions, but underwent a rapid autooxidation, which affected exclusively the tellurolate headgroups. The BPTe molecules in the oxidized films remained, however, bound to the substrate by the terminal O atoms coordinated to the Te moieties, and the quality of the films, given by parameters such as packing density, degree of the orientational order, and average tilt angle of the SAM constituents was not noticeably affected by the autooxidation. In addition, the BPTe SAMs were compared with the analogous thiol- and selenol-based systems, and common tendencies for the different chalcogen headgroups, ranging from Te to O, were derived.