Surface Architecture to Control Guest Behavior in Monolayers for Sensors

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project is in the general area of analytical and surface chemistry and in the subfield of interfacial structure and dynamics. During the tenure of this three-year continuing grant, Professor Wirth and her students will investigate the dynamics and orientational distributions of guest molecules interacting with covalently bonded, monolayer organic film hosts. The specific theme of this work is the control of guest behavior through structural design of the host monolayer. An understanding of guest-host monolayer interactions will facilitate the design of sensors for rapid and specific molecular recognition. The particular aspects of host monolayer architecture being investigated in this project are the development of structurally ordered monolayers, the control of defect shapes in dense monolayers, and the role of density in covalent, liquid crystal monolayers. The guest properties of orientation and rotational diffusion dynamics in these host monolayers will be probed by picosecond fluorescence anisotropy and fluorescence microscopy. Professor Wirth and her students will derive corroborative data from scanning tunneling microscopy and ellipsometric and contact angle measurements. %%% This research furthers the basic understanding of guest molecules with covalently bound thin film hosts that is essential to the rational design of sensor devices which have a significant degree of sensitivity and molecular selectivity.