The design, synthesis, and use of phosphonic acids for the surface modification of metal oxides.

摘要

The design and synthesis of a large variety of novel phosphonic acids has been described. Phosphonic acids are known to bind strongly to the surface of a number of metal oxides. The phosphonic acids designed and synthesized herein were used to modify the surface of both planar and nanoparticle metal oxides for use in a variety of applications. Indium tin oxide (ITO) substrates were modified with different fluorinated phosphonic acids in order to tune both the work function and the surface energy of the material. These changes in surface properties resulted in increased performance when the surface-modified ITO was incorporated into organic electronic devices. Additionally, the binding of phosphonic acids to a number of metal oxide species was studied. It has been shown that phosphonic acids bind strongly (bi- and tridentate) to ITO, zinc oxide (ZnO), and barium titanate (BaTiO3). Phosphonic acids bind to a variety of other metal oxides via at least a monodentate binding. More generally, the roles of monolayers in surface science and the properties they can tune are discussed.