Abstract
The formation of traditional ionic materials occurs principally via joint accumulation of both anions and cations. Herein, we describe a previously unreported phenomenon by which macroscopic liquid-like thin layers with tunable self-organization properties form through accumulation of stable complex ions of one polarity on surfaces. Using a series of highly stable molecular anions we demonstrate a strong influence of the internal charge distribution of the molecular ions, which is usually shielded by counterions, on the properties of the layers. Detailed characterization reveals that the intrinsically unstable layers of anions on surfaces are stabilized by simultaneous accumulation of neutral molecules from the background environment. Different phases, self-organization mechanisms and optical properties are observed depending on the molecular properties of the deposited anions, the underlying surface and the coadsorbed neutral molecules. This demonstrates rational control of the macroscopic properties (morphology and size of the formed structures) of the newly discovered anion-based layers.
Highlights
The formation of traditional ionic materials occurs principally via joint accumulation of both anions and cations
In order to understand the effect of the anion on the macroscopic properties of the layers, we employ a family of stable anions with similar structures but different internal charge distributions
We characterize the selforganization of the deposited layers after exposure to ambient conditions and observe clear differences which are correlated to the internal charge distributions of the soft landed anions, surface properties and type of accumulated neutral molecules from the gas phase
Summary
The formation of traditional ionic materials occurs principally via joint accumulation of both anions and cations. Self-organization mechanisms and optical properties are observed depending on the molecular properties of the deposited anions, the underlying surface and the coadsorbed neutral molecules This demonstrates rational control of the macroscopic properties (morphology and size of the formed structures) of the newly discovered anion-based layers. We further show that the formation of these layers is based on the accumulation of neutral molecules from the gas phase into the assemblies of deposited anions These layers exhibit self-organization behavior that may be sensitively tuned by the properties of the massselected anions. We characterize the selforganization of the deposited layers after exposure to ambient conditions and observe clear differences which are correlated to the internal charge distributions of the soft landed anions, surface properties and type of accumulated neutral molecules from the gas phase. The self-organization properties of the layers introduced here can be sensitively controlled by these parameters
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