Molecular swarm rearranges surface structures atom by atom: New study

Much like a zipper, carbene molecules cooperate on a gold surface to join two rows of atoms into one row, resulting - step by step - in a new surface structure. Saeed Amirjalayer Much like a zipper, carbene molecules cooperate on a gold surface to join two rows of atoms into one row, resulting - step by step - in a new surface structure. The surface of metals plays a key role in many technologically relevant areas, such as catalysis, sensor technology and battery research. For example, the large-scale production of many chemical compounds takes place on metal surfaces, whose atomic structure determines if and how molecules react with one another. At the same time, the surface structure of a metal influences its electronic properties. This is particularly important for the efficiency of electronic components in batteries. Researchers worldwide are therefore working intensively on developing new kinds of methods to tailor the structure of metal surfaces at the atomic level. A team of researchers at the University of Münster, consisting of physicists and chemists and led by Dr. Saeed Amirjalayer, has now developed a molecular tool which makes it possible, at the atomic level, to change the structure of a metal surface. Using computer simulations, it was possible to predict that the restructuring of the surface by individual molecules - so-called N'heterocyclic carbenes - takes place similar to a zipper. During the process, at least two carbene molecules cooperate to rearrange the structure of the surface atom by atom. The researchers could experimentally confirm, as part of the study, this "zipper-type?