EAPSI: Synthesis of Thiolated Carboranes for Self-Assembled Monolayers on a Dy-doped CdO Surface

该项目旨在合成硫代化碳硼烷，这是一种在水和极热中稳定的有机分子。这些有机分子将附着在一种等离子体活性物质--掺有镝的氧化镉(CDO：Dy)上，以保护其不溶于水和酸性溶液。CdO：Dy最近被报道为第一个能够在中红外区域容纳表面等离子体的半导体，也是制作中红外生物传感器芯片的理想材料。除了探索使用CDO：Dy作为生物传感器芯片的可能性外，还将研究这些有机分子在连接到CDO：Dy上时是否可以使用表面等离子体共振(SPR)光谱检测到红外振动。该项目将在位于中国的浙江大学与碳硼烷合成专家西蒙·达特威勒教授一起进行。这项工作将有助于开发一种灵敏的中红外生物传感器，不仅可以用于药物开发，还可以用于科学研究中的小分子检测。作为一种最近报道的等离子体活性材料，掺镝氧化镉(CDO：Dy)具有极高的迁移率峰和可调的载流子浓度，可以在中红外光谱范围内产生表面等离子体共振。尽管CDO：Dy具有窄而尖锐的等离子体能带，是一种理想的中红外生物传感器材料，但其在水中的溶解性和在酸性溶液中的不稳定性在实验上提出了许多挑战。为了克服这些障碍，EAPSI项目的一个目标是合成极端疏水和热稳定的分子，硫代碳硼烷，它不仅可以保护CDO底物免受(酸性)溶液的影响，还可以通过表面等离子体共振(SPR)光谱对这些分子进行后续检测；这也将促进同时研究将CDO：Dy用作生物传感器的可能性。此外，硫代化碳硼烷将使用自组装单分子膜沉积在CDO：Dy衬底上，进一步加深对Dy掺杂的CDO表面和有机分子之间表面化学的基本了解。该奖项由东亚和太平洋暑期学院项目资助一名美国研究生的夏季研究，由NSF和中国科技部联合资助。

This project aims to synthesize thiolated carboranes, organic molecules that are stable in water and extreme heat. These organic molecules will be attached to a plasmonic active material - cadmium oxide doped with dysprosium (CdO:Dy) - to protect it from being soluble in water and acidic solutions. CdO:Dy was recently reported as the first semiconductor that can host surface plasmons in the mid-infrared region as well as being an ideal material for mid-infrared biosensor chips. Investigation regarding whether or not the infrared vibration of these organic molecules can be detected when attached on CdO:Dy using Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) spectrometry will be performed in addition to exploring the possibility of using CdO:Dy as a biosensor chip. This project will be conducted at Zhejiang University in China with Professor Simon Duttwyler, an expert in carboranes synthesis. This work will lead to development of a sensitive mid-IR biosensor that can be used in drug discovery and also in small molecule detection for scientific research.A recently reported plasmonic active material, dysprosium doped cadmium oxide (CdO:Dy) possesses extreme peak of mobility and tunable carrier concentration giving rise to Surface Plasmon Resonance across the mid-IR range. Though CdO:Dy is an ideal mid-IR material for a biosensor due to its spectrally narrow and sharp plasmonic band, its solubility in water and instability in acidic solution pose many challenges experimentally. To overcome these obstacles, an objective of this EAPSI project aims to synthesize extremely hydrophobic and thermally stable molecules, thiolated carboranes, that will not only protect CdO substrate from (acidic) solutions, but also permit subsequent detection of these molecules through Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) spectroscopy; this will also facilitate the simultaneous investigation of potentially using CdO:Dy as a biosensor. Furthermore, thiolated carboranes will be deposited on CdO:Dy substrate using self-assembled monolayer, furthering the fundamental understanding of surface chemistry between Dy-doped CdO surface and organic molecules.This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology.