Schedule
2020 Speakers
17th December 2020
4PM GMT (UK Time)
Prof. Ignacio Franco
University of Rochester, U.S.A.
Frontiers in the Atomistic Simulation of Molecular Junctions
[2] Z. Li and I. Franco, “Molecular electronics: Toward the atomistic modeling of conductance histograms” J. Phys. Chem. C, 123, 9693 (2019)
[3] L. Mejía and I. Franco, “Force-conductance spectroscopy of a single-molecule reaction” Chem. Sci., 10, 3249-3256 (2019)
[4] M. Koch, Z. Li, C. Nacci, T. Kumagai, I. Franco and L. Grill, “How structural defects affect the mechanical and electrical properties of single molecular wires” Phys. Rev. Lett., 121, 047701 (2018)
[5] Z. Li, A. Tkatchenko and I. Franco, “Modeling Non-Reactive Molecule-Surface Systems on Experimentally Relevant Time and Length Scales: Dynamics and Conductance of Polyfluorene on Au(111)” J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 9, 1140 (2018)
10th December 2020
4PM GMT (UK Time)
Prof. Michael Inkpen
University of Southern California, U.S.A.
Metal-Appended Wires and Framework Fragments
3rd December 2020
2PM GMT (UK Time)
Dr. Shi-Xia Liu
University of Bern, Switzerland
Regulation and Control of Charge Transport through Single-Molecule Junctions
[1] Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2017, 56, 173[2] Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2015, 54, 14304[3] Chem. Eur. J. 2020, 26, 5264[4] Nanoscale 2018, 10, 18131[5] J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137, 4469[6] Chem. Eur. J. 2018, 24, 4193[7] Chem 2019, 5, 474-484.
19th November 2020
2PM GMT (UK Time)
Prof. Masha Kamenetska
Boston University, U.S.A.
Conductance of Molecular Junctions With Transition Metal Centers Wired via 5-Membered Rings
12th November 2020
2PM GMT (UK Time)
Dr. Andrea Vezzoli
University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Mechanoresistive Molecular Junctions
All these phenomena are however dependent on the molecule-electrode interface, and therefore difficult to translate into functional, large area devices. We focussed our efforts on finding a system that has the mechanoresistive moiety embedded in the molecular backbone, and we found an analogue of benzil that fulfilled our expectations.[3] In this compound, mechanical compression of the junction triggers a conformational change to a structure where a through-space charge transport pathway effectively shortcuts a non-conjugated portion of the molecular wire. Noise density analysis demonstrate the presence of through-space tunnelling in the compressed junction, thus highlighting a new strategy for the introduction of mechanosensitive behaviour in single-molecule devices.
In all cases, junction size modulation of only 3-4 Å resulted in conductance changes of orders of magnitude, making these devices exquisitely sensitive nanoelectromechanical systems.
[1] Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed. 2017 DOI: 10.1002/anie.201709419[2] Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed. 2019 DOI: 10.1002/anie.201906400 [3] Nano Letters 2020 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02815
5th November 2020
4PM GMT (UK Time)
Prof. Kun Wang
Mississippi State University, U.S.A.
Mapping plasmonic hot carriers via single molecule transport measurements
References:
[1]. ML Brongersma, NJ Halas, P Nordlander, Nature Nanotechnology 10, 25–34 (2015)[2]. H Reddy, K Wang, Z Kudyshev, L Zhu, S Yan, A Vezzoli, SJ Higgins, V Gavini, A Boltasseva, P Reddy, VM Shalaev, E Meyhofer, Science 369, 423-426 (2020)
29th October 2020
10AM GMT (UK Time)
Prof. Paul Low
UWA, Australia
The curious case of conductive carbon: from models to molecular junctions.
References:
- A. Moneo, A. González-Orive, S. Bock, M. Fenero, I.L. Herrer, D.C. Milan, M. Lorenzoni, R.J. Nichols, P. Cea, F. Perez-Murano, P.J. Low, S. Martin, Towards molecular electronic devices based on ‘all-carbon’ wires, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 14128-14138
- D.C. Milan, O.A. Al-Owaedi, M.-C. Oerthel, S. Marques-Gonzalez, R.J. Brooke, M.R. Bryce, P. Cea, J. Derrer, S.J. Higgins, C. Lambert, P.J. Low, D.Z. Manrique, S. Martin, R.J. Nichols, W. Schwazacher, V.M. Garcia-Suarez, Solvent dependence of the single molecule conductance of oligoyne-based molecular wires, J. Phys. Chem. C, 2016, 120, 15666-15674
- S. Gückel, J.B.G. Gluyas, S. El-Tarhuni, A.N. Sobolev, M.W. Whiteley, J.-F. Halet, C. Lapinte, M. Kaupp, P.J. Low, Iron versus Ruthenium: clarifying the electronic differences between prototypical mixed-valence organometallic butadiyndiyl-bridged molecular wires, Organometallics, 2018, 37, 1432-1445
- S. Bock, P.J. Low, A safe and simple synthesis of 1,4-bis(trimethylsilyl)buta-1,3-diyne, Aust. J. Chem., 2017, 71, 307-310
22nd October 2020
10AM BST (UK Time)
Prof. Gemma Solomon
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Better than nothing? The Search for Quantum Interference Based Single-Molecule Insulators.
- Garner, M. H.; Li, H.; Chen, Y.; Su, T. A.; Shangguan, Z.; Paley, D. W.; Liu, T.; Ng, F.; Li, H.; Xiao, S.; Nuckolls, C.; Venkataraman, L.; Solomon, G.C. Comprehensive suppression of single-molecule conductance using destructive σ-interference Nature 2018, 558, 415-419
- Li, H.; Garner, M. H.; Shangguan, Z.; Chen, Y.; Zheng, Q.; Su, T.; Neupane, M.; Liu, T.; Steigerwald, M.; Ng, F.; Nuckolls, C.; Xiao, S.; Solomon, G.C.; Venkataraman, L. Large Variations in Single Molecule Conductance of Cyclic and Bicyclic Silanes J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2018, 140 (44), 15080–15088
- Garner, M.H.; Koerstz, M.; Jensen, J.H.; Solomon, G.C.; The Bicyclo[2.2.2]octane Motif: A Class of Saturated Group 14 Quantum Interference Based Single-molecule Insulators J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2018 9(24), 6941-6947
- Garner, M.H.; Li, H.; Neupane, M.; Zou,Q.; Liu,T.; Su, T. A.; Shangguan, Z.; Paley, D. W.; Ng, F.; Xiao, S.; Nuckolls,C.; Venkataraman,L.; Solomon, G. C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141(39), 15471-15476
15th October 2020
10AM BST (UK Time)
Prof. Wenjing Hong
Xiamen University, China
Counting the number of molecules using single-molecule break-junction techniques.
[1] Huang, X.#; Tang, C.#; Li, J.#; Chen, L. C.#; Zheng, J.; Zhang, P.; Le, J.; Li, L.; Li, X.; Liu, J.*; Yang, Y.; Shi, J.; Chen, Z.; Bai, M.; Zhang, H. L.; Xia, H.; Cheng, J.*; Tian, Z.; Hong, W.*, Electric-field-induced selective catalysis of single-molecule reaction, Science Advances, 2019, 5, eaaw3072 [2] Zhan, C.#; Wang, G.#; Zhang, XG.; Li, ZH.; Wei, JY.; Si, Y.; Yang Y *; Hong, W.*; Tian, Z., Single-molecule measurement of adsorption free energy at the solid-liquid interface, Angewandte Chemie International Editions, 2019, 58, 14534-14538 [3] Tang, C.#;Tang, Y.#, Ye, Y.; Yan, Z.; Chen, Z.; Chen, L.; Zhang, L.; Liu, J.; Shi, J.; Xia, H.*; Hong, W.*, Identifying the conformational isomers of single-molecule cyclohexane at room temperature, Chem, 2020, DOI:10.1016/j.chempr.2020.07.024[4] Zhan, C.#; Wang, G.#; Yi, J.#; Wei, J.; Li, Z.; Chen, Z.; Shi, J.; Yang, Y.*; Hong, W.*; Tian, Z.*, Single-molecule plasmonic optical trapping, Matter, 2020, DOI:10.1016/j.matt.2020.07.019[5] unpublished results
8th October 2020
2PM BST (UK Time)
Prof. Ryan Chiechi
University of Groningen, Netherlands
Robust and Air-Stable Molecular Electronics
1st October 2020
Dr. Ganna (Anya) Gryn'ova
Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies, Germany
Crossing Electronic Bridges: Computational Chemistry of Molecular Junctions
24th September 2020
Dr. Linda A. Zotti
University of Seville, Spain
Electron transport through single proteins, peptides and amino acids
[1] M. P. Ruiz; A. C. Aragonès; N. Camarero; J. G. Vilhena; M. Ortega; L. A. Zotti; R. Pérez; J. C. Cuevas; P. Gorostiza; I. Díez-Pérez, “Bioengineering a Single-Protein Junction”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 139- 43, 15337 (2017)[2] C. Romero-Muñiz, M. Ortega, J. G. Vilhena, I. Díez Pérez, J. C. Cuevas,a; R. Pérez and L. A. Zotti, “Ab-initio Electronic Structure Calculations of Entire Blue Copper Azurins”, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 20, 30392 (2018). [3] Romero-Muñiz, C., Ortega, M., Vilhena, J. G., Diéz-Pérez, I., Cuevas, J. C., Pérez, R., & Zotti, L. A., “Mechanical Deformation and Electronic Structure of a Blue Copper Azurin in a Solid-State Junction”, Biomolecules, 9(9), 506 (2019)[4] L. A. Zotti; J. C. Cuevas, “Electron transport through homopeptides: are they really good conductors?”, ACS omega. 3, 3778 (2018).[5] Zotti, L. A., Bednarz, B., Hurtado-Gallego, J., Cabosart, D., Rubio-Bollinger, G., Agrait, N., & van der Zant, H. S. “Can one define the conductance of amino acids?”, Biomolecules, 9(10), 580 (2019)[6] Fereiro, J.A., Kayser, B., Romero‐Muñiz, C., Vilan, A., Dolgikh, D.A., Chertkova, R.V., Cuevas, J.C., Zotti, L.A., Pecht, I., Sheves, M. and Cahen, D., “A Solid‐State Protein Junction Serves as a Bias‐Induced Current Switch”, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 58(34), 11852 (2019).
17th September 2020
Prof. Richard Nichols
University of Liverpool, UK
Oligoporphyrin Single-Molecule Electronics
Topics to be discussed include:
- Single molecule junction formation mechanisms and evolution during junction stretching.
- The influence of contacting groups on porphyrin electrical junctions.
- Long range electron transport in porphyrin oligomers, their current-voltage response and unusual voltage dependent length decay of conductance.
- Mechanisms of charge transport in porphyrin single molecule wires.
- The mechanochemical properties of 5,15-diaryl porphyrins with thiol end groups.
References to our work on porphyrin single molecule electronics:
- G. Sedghi, K. Sawada, L. J. Esdaile, M. Hoffmann, H. L. Anderson, D. Bethell, W. Haiss, S. J. Higgins, and R. J. Nichols
Single Molecule Conductance of Porphyrin Wires with Ultralow Attenuation.
Journal of the American Chemical Society 130, 8582 (2008). - G. Sedghi, V.M. Garcia-Suarez, L.J. Esdaile, H.L. Anderson, C.J. Lambert, S. Martin, D. Bethell, S.J. Higgins, M. Elliott, N. Bennett, J.E. Macdonald and R.J. Nichols
Long-range electron tunnelling in oligoporphyrin molecular wires.
Nature Nanotechnology, 6, 517-523, (2011). - G. Sedghi, L.J. Esdaile, H.L. Anderson, S. Martin, D. Bethell, S.J. Higgins and R.J. Nichols
Comparison of the Conductance of Three Types of Porphyrin-Based Molecular Wires: beta,meso,beta-Fused Tapes, meso-Butadiyne-Linked and Twisted meso-meso Linked Oligomers.
Advanced Materials, 24, 653-, (2012). - Leary, E.; Roche, C.; Jiang, H. W.; Grace, I.; Gonzalez, M. T.; Rubio-Bollinger, G.; Romero-Muniz, C.; Xiong, Y. Y.; Al-Galiby, Q.; Noori, M.; Lebedeva, M. A.; Porfyrakis, K.; Agrait, N.; Hodgson, A.; Higgins, S. J.; Lambert, C. J.; Anderson, H. L.; Nichols, R. J.
Detecting Mechanochemical Atropisomerization within an STM Break Junction.
Journal of the American Chemical Society 2018, 140 (2), 710-718. - Leary, E.; Limburg, B.; Alanazy, A.; Sangtarash, S.; Grace, I.; Swada, K.; Esdaile, L. J.; Noori, M.; Gonzalez, M. T.; Rubio-Bollinger, G.; Sadeghi, H.; Hodgson, A.; Agrdit, N.; Higgins, S. J.; Lambert, C. J.; Anderson, H. L.; Nichols, R. J.
Bias-Driven Conductance Increase with Length in Porphyrin Tapes.
Journal of the American Chemical Society 2018, 140 (40), 12877-12883. - Leary, E.; Kastlunger, G.; Limburg, B.; Rincón-García, L.; Hurtado Gallego, J.; González, M. T.; Rubio-Bollinger, G.; Agrait, N.; Higgins, S. J.; Anderson, H. L.; Stadler, R.; Nichols, R. J.
Long-Lived Charged States of Single Porphyrin-Tape Junctions Under Ambient Conditions. Submitted 2020.
10th September 2020
Prof. Tim Albrecht
University of Birmingham, UK
When charge transport data are a worm – a transfer learning approach for unsupervised data classification
We have recently shown how Transfer Learning may be employed to identify and quantify hidden features in single-molecule charge transport data.[3] Using open-access neural networks such as AlexNet, trained on millions of seemingly unrelated image data, feature recognition then does not require network training with application-specific data. Instead, the network recognises features in the input that it had learned in other contexts and, for example, identifies different shapes in conductance-distance traces as images of different worm species. Thus, our results show how Deep Learning methodologies can readily be employed for unsupervised data classification,[4] even if the amount of problem-specific, ‘own’ data is limited. [1] M Lemmer, MS Inkpen, K Kornysheva, NJ Long, T Albrecht, “Unsupervised vector-based classification of single-molecule charge transport data”, Nat. Comm. 2016, 7, 12922.[2] T Albrecht, G Slabaugh, E Alonso, SMMR Al-Arif, “Deep learning for single-molecule science”, Nanotechnology 2017, 28 (42), 423001.[3] A Vladyka, T Albrecht, “Unsupervised classification of single-molecule data with autoencoders and transfer learning”, Mach. Learn.: Sci. Technol. 2020, 1, 035013.[4] P Yasini, S Shepard, T Albrecht, M Smeu, E Borguet, “Combined Impact of Denticity and Orientation on Molecular-Scale Charge Transport”, J. Phys. Chem. C 2020, 124, 17, 9460–9469.
3rd September 2020
Prof. Colin Lambert
Lancaster University, UK
How to deal with noisy neighbours: Molecular-scale quantum interference for beginners
23rd July 2020
Dr. Jan Mol
Queen Mary University of London, UK
Understanding resonant charge transport through weakly coupled single-molecule junctions
16th July 2020
Dr. Andrea Droghetti
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Electronic structure and transport properties of hybrid molecular junctions
In the first place, I will describe hybrid graphite (graphene)/molecule/Au junctions [1, 2]. The functionalization of the graphite (graphene) electrode with molecules attached via a C-C direct bond results in a room temperature mechanically stable and precisely-defined contact. The charge transport properties are dictated by the asymmetry of the transmission function around the Fermi energy induced by the molecule–graphite (graphene) bond. In particular, this leads to electrical rectification. Furthermore, it also affects the thermoelectric properties [3]. We predict that the room-temperature thermopower in these systems can be an order of magnitude larger than any value reported so far in experiments with symmetric Au/molecule/Au junctions. Finally, we will extend our study to hybrid Ni/graphene/molecule/Ni junctions in order to address also the spin-transport properties [4]. These molecular spin-valves show a (low-temperature) magnetoresistance, whose sign depends on the bias voltage applied across the junctions. This property has never been reported in nanoscale spin-valve devices and is caused by the interplay between the Ni/graphene, the molecule/Ni and the graphene/molecule contacts.
In summary, hybrid junctions with molecules attached to graphite (graphene) represent new multifunctional molecular devices with a large mechanical stability and where one can tune the electronic, thermoelectric and spin transport characteristics.
[1] A.V. Rudnev, V. Kaliginedi, A. Droghetti, H. Ozawa, A. Kuzume, M. Haga, P. Broekmann and I. Rungger, Science Advances 3, e1602297 (2017).
[2] G. Seber, A.V. Rudnev, A Droghetti et al., Chemistry-A European Journal 23, 1415 (2017).
[3] A. Droghetti and I. Rungger, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 22, 1466 (2020).
[4] C. Barraud, A. Droghetti et al., in preparation.
9th July 2020
Dr. Benjamin Robinson
University of Lancaster, UK
Thermoelectric properties of ultrathin organic films and molecular scale junctions
2nd July 2020
Dr. Hatef Sadeghi
University of Warwick, UK
Quantum and Phonon Interference Enhanced Molecular-Scale Thermoelectricity
The efficiency of a TE material is defined by a dimensionless figure of merit ZT = S^2GT/κ, where S is the Seebeck coefficient, G is the electrical conductance, T is temperature and κ = κel + κph is the thermal conductance due to electrons and phonons, respectively. Therefore low-κ, high-G and high-S materials are needed. This is constrained by the interdependency of G, S and κ. Consequently, the world record ZT is about unity at room temperature in inorganic materials which are toxic and their global supply is limited. To develop high-performance TE devices, simultaneous engineering of electron and phonon transport through nanostructured TE materials is needed. In molecular scale junctions, electrons behave phase coherently and can mediate long-range phase-coherent tunneling even at room temperature.
This creates the possibility of engineering quantum interference in these junctions for thermoelectricity. In this talk, I will discuss strategies to improve the efficiency of molecular scale TE materials. This includes utilising quantum interference to enhance electrical conductance and Seebeck coefficient and phonon interference to suppress thermal conductance in molecular scale junctions.
25th June 2020
Dr. Albert C. Aragones
Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Germany
New Spectroscopic Tools for Single-Molecule Junctions
18th June 2020
Dr. Matteo Palma
Queen Mary University of London, UK
Tuning the coupling of proteins to carbon nanotube nanoscale systems and devices
In this regard, we developed different platforms so as to couple single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) electronic output to biomolecular function, and allow for single-molecule and nanoscale studies to be performed. In particular, we assembled and investigated static and dynamic organic-inorganic heterostructures consisting of single Quantum Dots interfaced to individual CNT hybrids via DNA linkers,[1] and stimuli-responsive DNA-CNT junctions.[2] Here I will report the site-specific coupling of single proteins to individual CNTs with single-molecule control, confirming the importance of bioengineering optimal protein attachment sites to achieve direct protein−nanotube communication and bridging.[3]
Additionally, I will discuss the extension of this rationale to the fabrication of bioelectronic devices with engineered protein interfacing; this allowed us to control the local electrostatic surface presented within the Debye length in CNT-based transistors, and thus modulate the conductance gating effect upon sensing protein targets. [4] [1] Advanced Science, 2018, 5, 1800597[2] Chemistry of Materials, 2019, 31, 1537-1542[3] Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2017, 139, 17834-17840[4] Submitted, 2020