文摘
The morphology of self-assembled monolayers determined by molecular structure and involved interactions plays a crucial role in their properties. Herein, we report a study on 2D self-assembly of two kinds of triphenylene-submitted discotic mesogenic species, which have similar four TP moieties with alkyne spacer but different rigid aromatic cores pyrene and carbazole. Two types of stable periodic long-ranged supramolecular networks on the highly oriented pyrolytic graphite surface have been visualized via high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy technique. A comparative study reveals how the aromatic core of molecular building blocks affects achiral and chiral arrangement of discotic molecule on surface. The asymmetry backbone results in molecular orientation and varied van der Waals forces between molecule鈥搈olecule and molecule鈥搒ubstrate. Our results demonstrate that design of functional molecules plays an important role in the construction of 2D supramolecular assembly possessing desirable structure for the specific applications.