The Adsorption of hexacontane on hexagonal boron nitride
Publication Date
November 15, 2018
Description
We have investigated the adsorption of hexacontane (C60 H122) on hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The molecules can be deposited either by sublimation or from solution and form lamellar rows with dimensions of the order of 0.1 - 1 µm in three different rotational domains. High-resolution AFM images reveal that, similar to alkanes on graphite, the molecules are adsorbed parallel to the lattice vectors of hBN and we show using molecular mechanics that this corresponds to the lowest energy configuration. Lamellar rows with the same periodicity are observed even when several layers of hexacontane are deposited, although there is some orientational disorder in these multilayers. We also observe heat-induced modification of hexacontane including re-crystallization. We compare our results with recent X-ray studies of alkane adsorption on hBN and discuss the possible role of alkanes on steering molecular self-assembly on hBN.
Subjects (LCSH)
Subjects
Subjects (JACS)
Divisions
University of Nottingham, UK Campus::Faculty of Science::School of Physics and Astronomy
Data type
Scanning probe microscopy images
Funders
Funders
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Leverhulme Trust
Grant Number
EP/N033906/1
EP/P019080/1
RPG-2016-104
Data collection method
Asylum Cypher Atomic Force Microscope
Resource languages
English
Publisher
The University of Nottingham
Date Issued
November 2018
File(s)![Thumbnail Image]()
![Thumbnail Image]()
Name
Read me.txt
Size
377 B
Format
Text
Checksum (MD5)
4a48da28213859c3cc638b2924d041cb
Name
AFM Data.zip
Description
Scanning Probe Microscopy Images
Size
115.8 MB
Format
Unknown
Checksum (MD5)
e2497fbee00d16d0462aa2909082e8e1