Surface functionalization by silver-containing molecules with controlled distribution of functionalities

Abstract The distribution of surface functional groups was tuned through the use of the trimethylsilane spacer units which kept statistically fixed intermolecular intervals between functional molecules. We propose a simple and efficient procedure that does not require any optimization: statistical horizontal distances between the functionalities can be defined a priori regardless of the conditions of the functionalization (assuming only the minimal reaction time). We studied three various distributions of propyl silver carbonate functional units obtained through a five steps synthesis route. We showed that the quantity of immobilized complexes is proportional to the spacer density. The efficiency of the method was tested by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV), which confirmed the assumed number of immobilized metal complexes on the sample surface.