New Development in the Preparation of Micro/Nano-Wires of Molecular (Magnetic) Conductors

• Main Authors: Lydie Valade, Hisashi Tanaka, Dominique de Caro, Toyonari Sugimoto
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2010-03-01
• Series: Materials
• Subjects: nano-size molecular transistor/spin-transitor; micro/nano-size wire; molecular (magnetic) conductor; template-free and -assisted methods; size effect on electrical conductivity
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/3/3/1640/

A lot of molecular (magnetic) conductors are prepared largely using charge-transfer (CT) salts of donor molecules with acceptor molecules or nonmagnetic or magnetic anions such as metal halides and oxides; their CT salts are usually obtained as bulk crystals, which are used to elucidate the electrical conducting (magnetic) properties. In contrast, a small number of micro/nano-crystals of the molecular (magnetic) conductors, especially micro/nano-wires, are known, of which highly conducting nanowires are necessary as a key component in the development of the next generation of nano-size transistors and spin-transistors. Very recently, we succeeded in preparing highly conductive micro/nano-wires of CT salts between bent donor molecules developed by one of the author’s group and magnetic FeX4– (X = Cl, Br) ions: (1) by electrochemical oxidation of the bent donor molecules with a silicon wafer electrode coated with a phospholipid multi-lamellar structure as well as, (ii) by electrochemical oxidation of the bent donor molecules with a large arc structure, in the presence of NBu4FeX4 supporting electrolytes. This article reviews template-free and template-assisted methods developed so far for the preparation of micro/nano-wires of molecular (magnetic) conductors along with our new methods. The conducting properties of these micro/nano-wires are compared with those of the corresponding bulk crystals.