Electroactive copper(II) bimetallic self-assembled multilayers on Si(100)

Abstract

Silicon (100) surfaces were modified by reacting 4-aminopyridine and Si–Cl bond. These surfaces were further used for tethering copper bimetallic complexes and growing monolayers and multilayers by changing the axial position via Lewis acid–base reactions. In this way, coordination chemistry approach can be used as building blocks for controlling the design of functional surfaces. Furthermore, the outcomes of the several characterization techniques indicate that the complex is spatially oriented suggesting that this simple strategy allows the preparation of three dimensional molecular structures exhibiting spatial order. The structures on surface show interesting electroactive behaviors leading two cathodic signals, that can be related to Cu(II)/Cu(I) and Cu(I)/Cu(0) electro-reduction species (signals at −0.15 V and −0.50 V) and one peak in the anodic region (−0.15 V) ascribed to the Cu(0)/Cu(II) electro-oxidation reaction, using an Ag/AgCl saturated electrode and platinum wire as reference and counter electrodes, respectively