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Updated: May 31, 2026

Characterization of Thermal Transport in One-dimensional Solid Materials
Published on: January 26, 2014
Laws of thermal diffusion of individual molecules on the gold surface
Nadja Sändig1, Francesco Zerbetto
1Dipartimento di Chimica G. Ciamician, Università di Bologna, Via F. Selmi 2, 40126 Bologna, Italy. nadja.sandig@unibo.it
Abstract:
By molecular dynamics simulations, we describe and discuss the mobility of single molecules on a metal surface. The calculated trajectories of 28 different molecules show that diffusion, subdiffusion and superdiffusion regimes exist. The trajectories also share some common features, which are expressed in the form of power laws that link the length of the path walked by the molecule, the molecular mass, and the surface-molecule interaction energy. The values of the exponents of the laws are easily rationalized and provide insight into the molecular behaviour on the surface. The calculations also show that the adsorption is governed by the combination of van der Waals and Coulomb molecule-surface interactions.
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