COLL 296 |
| By wiring a single molecule to two electrodes, one can then directly measure charge transport through the molecule. This is exciting because it offers us with an unprecedented opportunity to understand charge transfer, a phenomenon that plays vital roles in many chemical and biological processes, on a single molecule basis. It is also directly relevant to the goal of building electronic devices using single molecules. We have studied charge transport through a range of redox molecules covalently bound to two gold electrodes, and observed that the current through the molecules can be controlled reversibly over several orders of magnitude by switching the molecules between the oxidized and reduced states with an electrochemical gate. In order to investigate the mechanism of the large gate effect in these molecules, we have studied the electron transport properties of the molecules as a function of temperature, in different solvents and electrolytes, and with and without the electrochemical gate control. The experimental results indicate that the charge transport in the redox molecules involves thermally activated processes. We also report on a combined experimental and theoretical study of the stability of a single molecule covalently attached to two gold electrodes via S-Au bonds. |
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Electrochemistry-Enabled Nano S&T
9:00 AM-11:55 AM, Tuesday, April 8, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Rm. 226, Oral
Division of Colloid & Surface Chemistry |