Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Physical Chemistry

A Better Measure Of Van der Waals Forces

Study finds that interaction of organic molecules with a gold surface increases with greater electron delocalization

by Jyllian Kemsley
December 8, 2014 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 92, Issue 49

TUG-OF-WAR
[+]Enlarge
Credit: Adapted From Nat. Commun.
Scientists measured van der Waals interactions by using an AFM tip to pull a molecule up from a gold surface.
Scientists measured van der Waals interactions by using an AFM tip to pull a molecule up from a gold surface, which is shown in this graphical representation.
Credit: Adapted From Nat. Commun.
Scientists measured van der Waals interactions by using an AFM tip to pull a molecule up from a gold surface.

Van der Waals interactions are attractive forces that arise from fluctuations in electron distribution. Such forces are weak and difficult to study experimentally. Nevertheless, they are critical to many areas of chemistry, such as in molecular self-assembly and material adhesion. A team led by Christian Wagner of Germany’s Jülich Research Center has measured for the first time the long-range van der Waals force between molecules and a surface (Nat. Commun. 2014, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6568). They did the experiments by using an atomic force microscope tip to bind to a single π-conjugated polynaphthalene molecule lying flat on a gold surface, then using the tip to drag the molecule into a vertical position and away from the surface. The interaction between the molecule and the surface was reflected in the oscillation frequency of the AFM tip. Investigating three different polynaphthalenes, Wagner and colleagues found that the van der Waals interactions increased nonlinearly with size such that larger molecules had about 10% greater attraction to the surface than expected from their number of atoms. The researchers think that’s likely because greater electron delocalization makes the molecules easier to polarize. The findings confirm results from computationally expensive modeling and point to a need to incorporate the effects in more routine computations, Wagner says.

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.