Supramolecular Glassy and Crystalline Nanoporous 2D Networks

Supramolecular engineering comprises the design, synthesis and self-assembly of well-defined molecular modules into tailor-made architectures. Towards this end, control over the self-recognition and self-assembly processes are milestones in engineering functional materials. Particularly, self-assembly of 2D architectures at solid-liquid interfaces represents a model system for studying self-assembly phenomena. By employing multi-topic self-recognition complementary moieties, extended nanoporous networks may form, which are of great interest for technological applications such as nanopatterning, charge and gas storage and 3D scaffolding. Such 2D materials can be studied in-situ with sub-nanometer resolution with the help of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (see Figure). Of technogical and academic interest is revealing how seemingly analogous chemical entities may result in the formation of a wide variety of crystalline and glassy 2D networks which may in turn result in completely different properties (adsorption, storage, heat capacity) when expanded into the third dimension.

C.A. Palma, J. Bjork, M. Bonini, M. Dyer, A. Llanes-Pallas, D. Bonifazi, M. Persson, P. Samorì, "Tailoring Bi-component Supramolecular Nanoporous Networks: Phase Segregation, Polymorphism and Glasses at the Solid-liquid interface", J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 13062-13071. link to article