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Posted: March 24, 2009
Carboranes - a new family of self-assembled-monolayer materials
(Nanowerk News) U.S. scientists say they have found a way to control the geometry and stability of a new family of self-assembled-monolayer materials called carboranes.
The Pennsylvania State University researchers said the exceptionally high quality and simplicity of the improved carboranes opens up new capabilities in selective patterning and control, and new possibilities for applications.
They said a tailored carborane film just one-nanometer or two-nanometers in height completely changes the chemical, physical, and biological properties of the surface on which it is applied.
The Penn State scientists said they discovered a way to control geometry and stability by making self-assembled monolayers from different carboranethiol isomers.
"Our results allow us to control the chemical and physical properties of the (self-assembled monolayer) without changing its structure," said Professor Paul Weiss, who led the study.
The scientists said they are trying to come up with simple and economical means to control the chemistry of a surface all the way from the wafer scale (several centimeters) to the single-molecule scale (sub-nanometer).
Weiss, his lab group and Viktor Balema, a product manager at the Sigma-Aldrich Co, said they plan to continue their work to develop a library of carboranethiols that can be used to make novel nanostructures and nanodevices.
The research appears in the journal ACS Nano.