Séminaire MONARIS | Stijn (Stan) F.L. Mertens "Electrochemistry beyond redox processes : from collective to single molecule switching""

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Department of Chemistry, Energy Lancaster and Materials Science LancasterLancaster University, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4YB, UK

Résumé

We typically think of electrochemistry as comprising chemical reactions where the redox state of the participating atoms changes, such as metal electrodeposition or water electrolysis.  While this is also true, the remit of electrochemistry is much wider.
In my talk, I will discuss mechanisms for controlled switching of the structure and properties of 2D materials at solid–liquid interfaces, from the collective scale down to single-molecule manipulation, at ambient temperatures and pressures.  The 2D materials include self-assembled structures of tailored organic molecules but also hexagonal boron nitride, an atomically thin insulator.  The switching events invariably depend on tipping the balance between intermolecular and adsorbate–substrate interactions [1,2], and may be controlled by several external stimuli: the interfacial potential at electrochemical solid–liquid interfaces [3-5], the chemical potential of ionic species in solution [5], intercalation of atomic species [6], or the electric field between an STM tip and the substrate [7].

References

1. S.F.L. Mertens, Adsorption and self-organization of organic molecules under electrochemical control, Encyclopedia of Interfacial Chemistry (ed. K. Wandelt), Vol. 4, Elsevier, 13 (2018).
2. K. Cui, I. Dorner, S.F.L. Mertens, Interfacial supramolecular electrochemistry, Curr. Opin. Electrochem. 8, 156 (2018).
3. K. Cui, K.S. Mali, O. Ivasenko, D. Wu, X. Feng, M. Walter, K. Müllen, S. De Feyter, S.F.L. Mertens, Squeezing, then stacking: from breathing pores to 3-dimensional ionic self-assembly under electrochemical control, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 53, 12951 (2014).
4. K. Cui, O. Ivasenko, K.S. Mali, D. Wu, X. Feng, K. Müllen, S. De Feyter, S.F.L. Mertens, Potential-driven molecular tiling of a charged polycyclic aromatic compound, Chem. Commun. 50, 10376 (2014).
5. Z. Li, K. Mali, P. Hapiot, S. De Feyter, A. J. Attias, S. F. L. Mertens, Reversible Redox-Driven Crystallization in a Paracyclophane Monolayer at a Solid–Liquid Interface, Adv. Funct. Mater. 2315861 (2024).
6. K. Cui, K.S. Mali, X. Feng, K. Müllen, M. Walter, S. De Feyter, S.F.L. Mertens, Reversible anion-driven switching of an organic 2D crystal at a solid–liquid interface, Small 13, 1702379 (2017).
7. S.F.L. Mertens, A. Hemmi, S. Muff, O. Gröning, S. De Feyter, J. Osterwalder, T. Greber, Switching stiction and adhesion of a liquid on a solid, Nature 534, 676 (2016).
8. K. Cui, K.S. Mali, D. Wu, X. Feng, K. Müllen, M. Walter, S. De Feyter, S.F.L. Mertens, Ambient bistable single dipole switching in a molecular monolayer, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 59, 14049 (2020).

Biography Stijn (Stan) Mertens is Professor of Physical Electrochemistry at Lancaster University, UK, in the Department of Chemistry.  He completed chemistry undergraduate studies and PhD at Ghent University, Belgium.  After postdoctoral research with David Schiffrin (Liverpool) and Jens Ulstrup (Denmark), and a Marie Curie fellowship at the University of Bern, Switzerland, he was appointed Assistant Professor at the Vienna University of Technology, Austria, where he also obtained his Habilitation in Chemical Physics, before moving to Lancaster in 2018.

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Guilhem SIMON