MRes In Plastic Electronics

Project Title:  Single-molecule and thin-film studies on conductive metallocene nano-rings

Supervisors: Dr. Tim Albrecht and Prof. Nicholas Long 

A new class of ring-shaped molecules that consists of entirely ferrocene units that are directly connected to each other (so far containing 5, 6 and 9 ferrocene units) have recently been synthesised for the first time. When partially oxidised, these systems have charges distributed over the entire ring, making them conductive. Such structures could have applications in new types of molecular switches or storage devices.

The project aims to explore the synthetic aspects and physic-chemical properties of these ring systems, both at “many-molecule” and single-molecule levels. This will include extending the range of available structures and incorporation of other metallocenes and potentially other transition metal units. The electrochemical and magnetic properties and timescale of charge delocalisation will be investigated. The project will also involve charge transport studies of single-molecules using electrochemical scanning-tunnelling microscopy (STM) and multi-dimensional STM.