Heterosupramolecular chemistry and modulation of function in molecular devices

摘要

An organised heterosupramolecular assembly is prepared by attachment of linked molecular components to previously organised condensed phase nano-components. The above approach yields an intrinsic substrate through which the resultant molecular devicemay be modulated. Further, the modulation state can be inferred from the bulk properties of the intrinsic substrate. Specifically, we report results for a heterosupermolecule consisting of a TiO_2 nanocrystallite attached to a linked viologen-quinone unit. The associated function is photo-induced vectorial electron flow. For the corresponding organised assembly we demonstrate the following: bandgap excitation of a semiconductor nanocrystallite results in light-induced vectorial electron flow; electrochemical modulation of the bulk properties of the intrinsic nanocrystalline semiconductor substrate modulates function; and the state of the intrinsic substrate provides information about the modulation state of the constituent units of the assembly.