Hicham Hamoudi

Electric Double‐Layer Capacitors Based on Highly Graphitized Nanoporous Carbons Derived from ZIF‐67

Nanoporous carbons (NPCs) have large specific surface areas, good electrical and thermal conductivity, and both chemical and mechanical stability, which facilitate their use in energy storage device applications. In the present study, highly graphitized NPCs are synthesized by one-step direct carbonization of cobalt-containing zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67). After chemical etching, the deposited Co content can be completely removed to prepare pure NPCs with high specific surface area, large pore volume, and intrinsic electrical conductivity (high content of sp(2) -bonded carbons). A detailed electrochemical study is performed using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge measurements. Our NPC is very promising for efficient electrodes for high-performance supercapacitor applications. A maximum specific capacitance of 238 F g(-1) is observed at a scan rate of 20 mV s(-1) . This value is very high compared to previous works on carbon-based electric double layer capacitors.

Controlling the direction of rectification in a molecular diode

A challenge in molecular electronics is to control the strength of the molecule-electrode coupling to optimize device performance. Here we show that non-covalent contacts between the active molecular component (in this case, ferrocenyl of a ferrocenyl-alkanethiol self-assembled monolayer (SAM)) and the electrodes allow for robust coupling with minimal energy broadening of the molecular level, precisely what is required to maximize the rectification ratio of a molecular diode. In contrast, strong chemisorbed contacts through the ferrocenyl result in large energy broadening, leakage currents and poor device performance. By gradually shifting the ferrocenyl from the top to the bottom of the SAM, we map the shape of the electrostatic potential profile across the molecules and we are able to control the direction of rectification by tuning the ferrocenyl-electrode coupling parameters. Our demonstrated control of the molecule-electrode coupling is important for rational design of materials that rely on charge transport across organic-inorganic interfaces.

Self-assembly of alkanedithiols on Au(111) from solution: effect of chain length and self-assembly conditions.

A comparative study on the adsorption of buthanedithiol (BDT), hexanedithiol (HDT), and nonanedithiol (NDT) on Au(111) from ethanolic and n-hexane solutions and two different preparation procedures is presented. SAM characterization is based on reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopy, electrochemistry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and time of flight direct recoil spectroscopy. Results indicate that one can obtain a standing-up phase of dithiols and that the amount of the precursor lying-down phase decreases from BDT to NDT, irrespective of the solvent and self-assembly conditions. A good ordering of the hydrocarbon chains in the standing-up configuration is observed for HDT and NDT when the system is prepared in degassed n-hexane with all operations carried out in the dark. Disulfide bridges at the free SH terminal groups are formed for HDT and to a lesser extent for NDT prepared in ethanol in the presence of oxygen, but we found no evidence of ordered multilayer formation in our experiments. No disulfides were observed for BDT that only forms the lying-down phase. Our results demonstrate the key role of the chain length and the procedure (solvent nature and oxygen presence) in controlling the surface structure and chemistry of SAMs dithiols on Au(111).

UPS, XPS, and NEXAFS Study of Self-Assembly of Standing 1,4-Benzenedimethanethiol SAMs on Gold

We report a study of the self-assembly of 1,4-benzenedimethanethiol monolayers on gold formed in n-hexane solution held at 60 °C for 30 min and in dark conditions. The valence band characteristics, the thickness of the layer, and the orientation of the molecules were analyzed at a synchrotron using high resolution photoelectron spectroscopy and near edge X-ray adsorption spectroscopy. These measurements unambiguously attest the formation of a single layer with molecules arranged in the upright position and presenting a free -SH group at the outer interface. Near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) measurements suggest that the molecular axis is oriented at 24° with respect to the surface normal. In addition, valence band features could be successfully associated to specific molecular orbital contributions thanks to the comparison with theoretically calculated density of states projected on the different molecular units.

Single‐Crystal‐like Nanoporous Spinel Oxides: A Strategy for Synthesis of Nanoporous Metal Oxides Utilizing Metal‐Cyanide Hybrid Coordination Polymers

Development of a new method to synthesize nanoporous metal oxides with highly crystallized frameworks is of great interest because of their wide use in practical applications. Here we demonstrate a thermal decomposition of metal-cyanide hybrid coordination polymers (CPs) to prepare nanoporous metal oxides. During the thermal treatment, the organic units (carbon and nitrogen) are completely removed, and only metal contents are retained to prepare nanoporous metal oxides. The original nanocube shapes are well-retained even after the thermal treatment. When both Fe and Co atoms are contained in the precursors, nanoporous Fe-Co oxide with a highly oriented crystalline framework is obtained. On the other hand, when nanoporous Co oxide and Fe oxide are obtained from Co- and Fe-contacting precursors, their frameworks are amorphous and/or poorly crystallized. Single-crystal-like nanoporous Fe-Co oxide shows a stable magnetic property at room temperature compared to poly-crystalline metal oxides. We further extend this concept to prepare nanoporous metal oxides with hollow interiors. Core-shell heterostructures consisting of different metal-cyanide hybrid CPs are prepared first. Then the cores are dissolved by chemical etching using a hydrochloric acid solution (i.e., the cores are used as sacrificial templates), leading to the formation of hollow interiors in the nanocubes. These hollow nanocubes are also successfully converted to nanoporous metal oxides with hollow interiors by thermal treatment. The present approach is entirely different from the surfactant-templating approaches that traditionally have been utilized for the preparation of mesoporous metal oxides. We believe the present work proves a new way to synthesize nanoporous metal oxides with controlled crystalline frameworks and architectures.

Going beyond the self-assembled monolayer: metal intercalated dithiol multilayers and their conductance

A study of the self-assembly of silver atom intercalated 5,5′-bis(mercaptomethyl)-2,2′-bipyridine (BPD; HS-CH2-(C5H3N)2-CH2-SH) and 1,4-benzenedimethanethiol (BDMT; HS-CH2-(C6H4)-CH2-SH)) dithiol (DT) multilayers on gold is presented. The bilayer of these SAMs can be obtained starting from the exposure of a DT monolayer to a concentrated silver ion solution. After grafting the silver atoms on the sulfur end group, the incubation of the resulting DT–Ag SAM in a DT solution leads to the formation of a DT–Ag–DT bilayer. This process was extended to make a multilayer structure. The corresponding changes in these self-assembled layers on Au are characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) measurements, and I–V characteristics. Our interpretation of evolution in the absorbed layer are based on changes in intensities of peaks in XPS related to S bound to substrate or Ag and in –SH groups, as well as changes in thickness and absorption features in SE measurements. The latter show the evolution in absorbance wavelength as a function of thickness and indicate a decrease in the HOMO–LUMO gap from about 4.5 eV to 4 eV. The I–V characteristics show a significant bias dependence on the number of the BPD layers and there appears to be a transition from tunneling to a hopping regime when going from the single to the multiple layers.

Crossbar nanoarchitectonics of the crosslinked self-assembled monolayer

A bottom-up approach was devised to build a crossbar device using the crosslinked SAM of the 5,5′-bis (mercaptomethyl)-2,2′-bipyridine-Ni2+ (BPD- Ni2+) on a gold surface. To avoid metal diffusion through the organic film, the author used (i) nanoscale bottom electrodes to reduce the probability of defects on the bottom electrodes and (ii) molecular crosslinked technology to avoid metal diffusion through the SAMs. The properties of the crosslinked self-assembled monolayer were determined by XPS. I-V characteristics of the device show thermally activated hopping transport. The implementation of this type of architecture will open up new vistas for a new class of devices for transport, storage, and computing.

Bottom-up nanoarchitectonics of two-dimensional freestanding metal doped carbon nanosheet

Through appropriate engineering of the 5,5′-bis(mercaptomethyl)-2,2′-bipyridine self-assembled monolayer (BPD-SAM) on a gold surface, ultrathin sulfur functionalized freestanding carbon–metal nanosheets (CMNS) have been produced. The BPD-SAM was used to encapsulate Ni+2. The resulting BPD–Ni+2 SAM was cross-linked by high-energy electrons. The nanomembrane was realized by dissolving the gold substrate. The chemical and physical properties of the CMNS were investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis reflection spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and electrical two-point probe measurements.

Carbon–metal nanosheets from the water–hexane interface

This report describes a new approach to prepare atom thick metal–sulfide–graphene nanosheets produced by the subsequent annealing of crosslinked carbon–metal film formed at the water–hexane interface. A bipyridine dithiol (BPD) layer self-assembled in the water–hexane hydrophilic/hydrophobic biphasic medium was used to encapsulate metal ions (M2+) (M = Co or Ni). Subsequently, the BPD–M2+ film was crosslinked using UV-light. Then the resultant carbon–metal nanosheets were annealed at high temperature under N2, transforming these molecular sheets into a homogeneous nano-crystalline metal–sulfide–graphene hybrids (MSGH). This approach can produce semi-transparent conducting films having marked conductivity dependence on the number of nanosheets in a stack. The suggested strategy opens up broad prospects toward the MSGH architecture using a simple process with new properties for new applications such as energy conversion/storage and electronics.

Unoccupied interface and molecular states in thiols and dithiols monolayers

The electronic structure of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) formed by thiols of different lengths and dithiol molecules bound to Au(111) has been characterized. Inverse photoemission spectroscopy (IPES) and density functional theory have been used to describe the molecule/Au substrate system. All molecular layers display a clear signal in the IPES data at the edge of the lowest unoccupied system orbital (LUSO), roughly 3 eV above the Fermi level. There is also evidence, in both the experimental data and the calculation, of a finite density of states just below the LUSO edge, which has been recognized as localized at the Au-substrate interface. Regardless of the molecular lengths and in addition to this induced density of interface states, an apparent antibonding Au-S state has been identified in the IPES data for both molecular systems. The main difference between the electronic structures of thiol and dithiol SAMs is a shift in the energy of the antibonding state.