College Honors Program

Electrochemical Analysis of Self-Assembled Monolayers of Thiols on Gold

Date of Creation

5-17-2024

Document Type

Campus Access Only

Abstract

To date, there remain many molecules whose properties in self-assembled monolayer form have not yet been studied by the scientific community. This study contributes to the community’s growing library of knowledge about individual molecules, with projected future applications in the creation of mixed monolayers. Single-component self-assembled monolayers of 1-decanethiol, 1-dodecanethiol, and 1,1’,4’,1”-terphenyl-4-thiol were formed on the surface of Au(111). Monolayers were then characterized with reductive desorption and with cyclic voltammetry in a ferricyanide solution. 1-Dodecanethiol was found to have high levels of ordering and surface coverage, and conformed with precedents in the literature for both analytical methods. 1-Decanethiol results displayed low reproducibility for both methods. Reductive desorption showed 1,1’,4’,1”-terphenyl-4-thiol to be unexpectedly similar in stability to 1-dodecanethiol, but when tested with ferricyanide cyclic voltammetry, 1,1’4’1”-terphenyl-4-thiol showed less ability to block redox activity than either of the other two molecules.

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