First-principles investigation of electron-induced cross-linking of aromatic self-assembled monolayers on Au(111)

We have performed a density functional theory study of the possible layered geometries occurring after dehydrogenation of a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of biphenyl-thiol molecules (BPTs) adsorbed on Au(111), as it has been experimentally observed for low energy electron irradiated SAMs of 4'-nitro-1,1'-biphenyl-thiol adsorbed on a Au(111) surface. [Eck et al., Advanced Materials 2000, 12, 805] Cross-link formation between the BPT molecules has been analyzed using different models with different degrees of complexity. We start by analyzing the bonding between biphenyl (BP) molecules in a lineal dimer and their characteristic vibration frequencies. Next, we consider the most stable cross-linked structures formed in an extended free-standing monolayer of fully dehydrogenated BP molecules. Finally, we analyze a more realistic model where the role of the Au(111) substrate and sulfur head groups is explicitly taken into account. In this more complex model, the dehydrogenated BPT molecules are found to interact covalently to spontaneously form "graphene-like" nanoflakes. We propose that these nanographenes provide plausible building-blocks for the structure of the carbon layers formed by electron irradiation of BPT-SAMs. In particular, it is quite tempting to visualize those structures as the result of the cross-link and entanglement of such graphene nanoflakes.