Generation of two-dimensional ordered domains of gold mediated by pentacosadiynoic acid

Abstract Two-dimensional ordered domains of gold were obtained on the hydrophilic surface of polymerized 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (poly-PCDA) monolayer. Instead of the classical physical methods, such as scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and low pressure evaporation, a ‘wet’ chemical method based on the Langmuir–Blodgett technique was employed. The structure was probed by STM and found to have a quasi-rectangular lattice, with the shorter lattice spacing constant at 0.37±0.02 nm, and the longer at 0.51±0.02 nm. The structure, which was stable within 24 h, contains at least 60 atoms within one domain. A possible model was also put forward based on the structural correlation between the gold atomic monolayer and the hydrophilic surface of the polymer substrate.