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Published on: March 7, 2018
Observing Host-Guest Interactions at Molecular Interfaces by Monitoring the Electrochemical Current
Qiushuang Ai1, Lunqiang Jin1, Zhengjie Gong1
1The State Key Laboratory for Refractories and Metallurgy, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430081, China.
Abstract:
Macrocyclic cucurbit[n]uril (CB[n]) molecules have triggered renewed interest because of their outstanding capabilities as host molecules to selectively interact with a wide range of small guest molecules. Here, CB[7]-based host-guest interactions were investigated for a guest-modified nanoelectrode by monitoring the electrochemical current. A ferrocene (Fc)-terminated molecule immobilized on a gold nanoelectrode (GNE) showed suitable affinity with CB[7] when the effective exposing area of the GNE was between 5.3 and 12 μm2 and the bias applied on the GNE was -500 mV. Monitoring the dynamics of nanoparticles (NPs) on a nanoelectrode provides new insights into the host-guest interactions at molecular interfaces.
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