Properties of monolayers at electrified interfaces and their applications at the nanoscale

在过去的十年里，纳米结构材料在从科学上的好奇转向现实世界应用的组件方面取得了长足的进步。例如，单个和阵列的金属纳米颗粒可以用作构建块，以制造真正有益的生物传感应用设备。然而，关于这些纳米粒子，特别是当涉及到控制它们的反应性和组装时，仍然有很多不清楚的地方。这些纳米粒子的性质与围绕金属核心的薄分子膜的行为有内在联系。这项研究的目的是探索这些单分子厚层的物理和化学行为。我们特别感兴趣的是确定电场如何影响这些有机分子的吸附和稳定能力。我们认为，如果我们了解了单分子膜的性质，我们就能够控制纳米颗粒的性质。我们的方法可能会带来一种优雅的方法，基于纳米级构建块的组装来生产用于光操纵的新设备。这些器件将在光子学和超灵敏生物传感领域得到应用。

In the last decade, nanostructured materials have taken great strides in moving from scientific curiosities to components of real-world applications. For example, individual and arrays of metal nanoparticles can be used as building blocks to fabricate truly beneficial devices for biosensing applications. However, there is much that remains unclear about these nanoparticles, particularly when it comes to controlling their reactivity and assembly. The properties of these nanoparticles are intrinsically linked to the behaviour of the thin molecular films that surround the metal core. The purpose of this research is to probe the physical and chemical behaviour of these single-molecule thick layers. We are particularly interested in determining how electric fields influence the adsorption and stabilizing abilities of these organic molecules. We feel that if we understand the properties of the monolayers we will be able to control the properties of the nanoparticles. Our approach could lead to an elegant means to produce new devices for the manipulation of light based on assemblies of nanosized building blocks. These devices would have applications in the field of photonics and ultrasensitive biosensing.