Description

The unique feature of SAMs made of perfluorinated thiols is that they have a large interfacial dipole moment. This dipole results in unusual wetting properties (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 121, 3222-3223, 1999) and provides a basis for the fabrication of superhydrophobic, "lotus" surfaces with contact angles as large as 161o (Langmuir 22, 11072-11076, 2006). In addition, the presence of an interfacial dipole associated with the molecular monolayer at the metal/semiconductor interface has been used to change the work function of the electrodes, and, hence, the injection of the charge carriers in field effect transistors (J. Mater. Chem. 17, 1947-1953, 2007). Perfluorinated thiols have also been applied for controlled crystallization of ZnO (J. Coll. Int. Sci. 303, 333-336, 2006), for the creation of chemical and wettability gradients (Langmuir 21, 7796-7804, 2005) and for the functionalization of nanoparticles that crystallize into highly ordered monolayers (Langmuir 17, 2291-2293, 2001).