Tong, J; de Bruyn, N; Alieva, A; Legge, E J; Boyes, M; Song, X; Walisinghe, A J; Pollard, A J; Anderson, M W; Vetter, T; Melle-Franco, M; Casiraghi, C (2024) Crystallization of Molecular Layers produced Under Confinement onto a Surface. Nature Communications, 15. 2015

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Abstract

It is well known that molecules confined very close to a surface arrange into molecular layers (MLs). Because solid-liquid interfaces are ubiquitous in the chemical, biological and physical sciences, it is crucial to develop methods to easily access MLs and exploit their unique properties by producing molecular layered crystals. Here we report a simple method, based on crystallization in ultra-thin puddles enabled by gas blowing, which allows to produce molecular layered crystals with thickness down to the monolayer onto a surface, making them directly accessible for characterization and further processing. By selecting four molecules with different types of polymorphs, we observed exclusive crystallization of polymorphs with Van der Waals interlayer interactions, which have not been observed with traditional confinement methods. In conclusion, the gas blowing approach is a simple way to perform materials chemistry under confinement onto a surface, enabling the formation of new crystals with selected polymorphism.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	Nanoscience > Nano-Materials
Divisions:	Chemical & Biological Sciences
Identification number/DOI:	10.1038/s41467-024-45900-0
Last Modified:	09 Sep 2024 14:21
URI:	https://eprintspublications.npl.co.uk/id/eprint/10004