{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/17047"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/17047","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Size effects on self-assembly and melting of silver-alkanethiolate on inert surfaces","abstract":"Self-assembled materials produced in the reaction between alkanethiol and Ag are characterized and compared. It is revealed that the size of the Ag substrate has a significant role in the self-assembly process and determines the reaction products. Alkanethiol adsorbs on the surface of Ag continuous planar thin films and only forms self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), while the reaction between alkanethiol and Ag clusters on inert surfaces is more aggressive and generates a significantly larger amount of alkanethiolate. Two dissimilar products are yielded depending on the size of the clusters. Small Ag clusters are more likely to be converted into multilayer silver-alkanethiolate (AgSR, R = CnH2n+1) crystals, while larger Ag clusters form monolayer-protected clusters (MPCs). The AgSR crystals are initially small and can ripen into large lamellae during thermal annealing. The crystals have facets and flat terraces with extended area, and have a strong preferred orientation in parallel with the substrate surface. The MPCs move laterally upon annealing and reorganize into a single-layer network with their separation distance approximately equal to the length of an extended alkyl chain. AgSR lamellar crystals grown on inert surfaces provide an excellent platform to study the melting characteristics of crystalline lamellae of polymeric materials with the thickness in the nanometer scale. This system is also unique in that each crystal has integer number of layers – magic-number size (thickness). The size of the crystals is controlled by adjusting the amount of Ag and the annealing temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are combined to accurately determine the size (number of layers) of the lamellar crystals. The melting characteristics are measured with nanocalorimetry and show discrete melting transitions which are attributed to the magic-number sizes of the lamellar crystals. The discrete melting temperatures are intrinsic properties of the crystals with particular sizes. Smaller lamellar crystals with less number of layers melt at lower temperatures. The melting point depression is inversely proportional to the total thickness of the lamellae – the product of the number of layers and the layer thickness.","abstract_html":"Self-assembled materials produced in the reaction between alkanethiol and Ag are characterized and compared. It is revealed that the size of the Ag substrate has a significant role in the self-assembly process and determines the reaction products. Alkanethiol adsorbs on the surface of Ag continuous planar thin films and only forms self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), while the reaction between alkanethiol and Ag clusters on inert surfaces is more aggressive and generates a significantly larger amount of alkanethiolate. Two dissimilar products are yielded depending on the size of the clusters. Small Ag clusters are more likely to be converted into multilayer silver-alkanethiolate (AgSR, R = CnH2n+1) crystals, while larger Ag clusters form monolayer-protected clusters (MPCs). The AgSR crystals are initially small and can ripen into large lamellae during thermal annealing. The crystals have facets and flat terraces with extended area, and have a strong preferred orientation in parallel with the substrate surface. The MPCs move laterally upon annealing and reorganize into a single-layer network with their separation distance approximately equal to the length of an extended alkyl chain. AgSR lamellar crystals grown on inert surfaces provide an excellent platform to study the melting characteristics of crystalline lamellae of polymeric materials with the thickness in the nanometer scale. This system is also unique in that each crystal has integer number of layers – magic-number size (thickness). The size of the crystals is controlled by adjusting the amount of Ag and the annealing temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are combined to accurately determine the size (number of layers) of the lamellar crystals. The melting characteristics are measured with nanocalorimetry and show discrete melting transitions which are attributed to the magic-number sizes of the lamellar crystals. The discrete melting temperatures are intrinsic properties of the crystals with particular sizes. Smaller lamellar crystals with less number of layers melt at lower temperatures. The melting point depression is inversely proportional to the total thickness of the lamellae – the product of the number of layers and the layer thickness.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hu, Liang"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Materials Science & Engr","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Allen, Leslie H.","Geil, Phillip H.","Zuo, Jian-Min","Hsieh, Kuang-Chien"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010-08-31T20:30:28Z","date_published":"2010-08-31T20:30:28Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:09Z","subjects":["Silver-alkanethiolate","Self-assembled monolayer","Size effect","Melting point depression"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2010 Liang Hu"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/17047","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Allen, Leslie H.","Geil, Phillip H.","Zuo, Jian-Min","Hsieh, Kuang-Chien"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hu, Liang"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2010-08-31T20:30:28Z","2012-09-07T16:43:38Z","2010-08"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Materials Science & Engr"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Silver-alkanethiolate","Self-assembled monolayer","Size effect","Melting point depression"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2010 Liang Hu"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/17047"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Self-assembled materials produced in the reaction between alkanethiol and Ag are characterized and compared. It is revealed that the size of the Ag substrate has a significant role in the self-assembly process and determines the reaction products. Alkanethiol adsorbs on the surface of Ag continuous planar thin films and only forms self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), while the reaction between alkanethiol and Ag clusters on inert surfaces is more aggressive and generates a significantly larger amount of alkanethiolate. Two dissimilar products are yielded depending on the size of the clusters. Small Ag clusters are more likely to be converted into multilayer silver-alkanethiolate (AgSR, R = CnH2n+1) crystals, while larger Ag clusters form monolayer-protected clusters (MPCs). The AgSR crystals are initially small and can ripen into large lamellae during thermal annealing. The crystals have facets and flat terraces with extended area, and have a strong preferred orientation in parallel with the substrate surface. The MPCs move laterally upon annealing and reorganize into a single-layer network with their separation distance approximately equal to the length of an extended alkyl chain. AgSR lamellar crystals grown on inert surfaces provide an excellent platform to study the melting characteristics of crystalline lamellae of polymeric materials with the thickness in the nanometer scale. This system is also unique in that each crystal has integer number of layers – magic-number size (thickness). The size of the crystals is controlled by adjusting the amount of Ag and the annealing temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are combined to accurately determine the size (number of layers) of the lamellar crystals. The melting characteristics are measured with nanocalorimetry and show discrete melting transitions which are attributed to the magic-number sizes of the lamellar crystals. The discrete melting temperatures are intrinsic properties of the crystals with particular sizes. Smaller lamellar crystals with less number of layers melt at lower temperatures. The melting point depression is inversely proportional to the total thickness of the lamellae – the product of the number of layers and the layer thickness.","Item withdrawn by Mark Zulauf (zulauf@illinois.edu) on 2010-06-07T12:59:56Z Item was in collections: University of Illinois Theses & Dissertations (ID: 1) No. of bitstreams: 1 Hu_Liang.pdf: 3020760 bytes, checksum: 5bebefa4980f0efce1f35b761bef2fed (MD5)","Made available in DSpace on 2010-08-31T20:30:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 Hu_Liang.pdf: 3020760 bytes, checksum: 5bebefa4980f0efce1f35b761bef2fed (MD5) 1_Hu_Liang.pdf: 3020729 bytes, checksum: 3e03220c11d555f6d7267cd441e650e4 (MD5) license.txt: 4058 bytes, checksum: 2c28c8093a827a64f42e5be04e3171ef (MD5)","Item marked as restricted to the 'Administrator' Group (id=1) by William Ingram (wingram2@illinois.edu) on 2010-08-31T20:32:54Z Item is restricted until 2012-08-31T20:32:49Z","Item reinstated by Sarah Shreeves (sshreeve@illinois.edu) on 2012-09-07T16:43:38Z Item was in collections: University of Illinois Dissertations and Theses (ID: 204) Dissertations and Theses - Materials Science and Engineering (ID: 649) No. of bitstreams: 4 Hu_Liang.pdf: 3020760 bytes, checksum: 5bebefa4980f0efce1f35b761bef2fed (MD5) 1_Hu_Liang.pdf: 3020729 bytes, checksum: 3e03220c11d555f6d7267cd441e650e4 (MD5) license.txt: 4058 bytes, checksum: 2c28c8093a827a64f42e5be04e3171ef (MD5) 1_Hu_Liang.pdf.txt: 253121 bytes, checksum: 4c022f771c05665a5059e02c9a78ab66 (MD5)","Item released from any restrictions by Sarah Shreeves (sshreeve@illinois.edu) on 2012-09-07T16:43:38Z"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Size effects on self-assembly and melting of silver-alkanethiolate on inert surfaces"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Allen, Leslie H.","Geil, Phillip H.","Zuo, Jian-Min","Hsieh, Kuang-Chien"],"dc:creator":["Hu, Liang"],"dc:date":["2010-08-31T20:30:28Z","2012-09-07T16:43:38Z","2010-08"],"dc:description":["Self-assembled materials produced in the reaction between alkanethiol and Ag are characterized and compared. It is revealed that the size of the Ag substrate has a significant role in the self-assembly process and determines the reaction products. Alkanethiol adsorbs on the surface of Ag continuous planar thin films and only forms self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), while the reaction between alkanethiol and Ag clusters on inert surfaces is more aggressive and generates a significantly larger amount of alkanethiolate. Two dissimilar products are yielded depending on the size of the clusters. Small Ag clusters are more likely to be converted into multilayer silver-alkanethiolate (AgSR, R = CnH2n+1) crystals, while larger Ag clusters form monolayer-protected clusters (MPCs). The AgSR crystals are initially small and can ripen into large lamellae during thermal annealing. The crystals have facets and flat terraces with extended area, and have a strong preferred orientation in parallel with the substrate surface. The MPCs move laterally upon annealing and reorganize into a single-layer network with their separation distance approximately equal to the length of an extended alkyl chain. AgSR lamellar crystals grown on inert surfaces provide an excellent platform to study the melting characteristics of crystalline lamellae of polymeric materials with the thickness in the nanometer scale. This system is also unique in that each crystal has integer number of layers – magic-number size (thickness). The size of the crystals is controlled by adjusting the amount of Ag and the annealing temperature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are combined to accurately determine the size (number of layers) of the lamellar crystals. The melting characteristics are measured with nanocalorimetry and show discrete melting transitions which are attributed to the magic-number sizes of the lamellar crystals. The discrete melting temperatures are intrinsic properties of the crystals with particular sizes. Smaller lamellar crystals with less number of layers melt at lower temperatures. The melting point depression is inversely proportional to the total thickness of the lamellae – the product of the number of layers and the layer thickness.","Item withdrawn by Mark Zulauf (zulauf@illinois.edu) on 2010-06-07T12:59:56Z Item was in collections: University of Illinois Theses & Dissertations (ID: 1) No. of bitstreams: 1 Hu_Liang.pdf: 3020760 bytes, checksum: 5bebefa4980f0efce1f35b761bef2fed (MD5)","Made available in DSpace on 2010-08-31T20:30:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 Hu_Liang.pdf: 3020760 bytes, checksum: 5bebefa4980f0efce1f35b761bef2fed (MD5) 1_Hu_Liang.pdf: 3020729 bytes, checksum: 3e03220c11d555f6d7267cd441e650e4 (MD5) license.txt: 4058 bytes, checksum: 2c28c8093a827a64f42e5be04e3171ef (MD5)","Item marked as restricted to the 'Administrator' Group (id=1) by William Ingram (wingram2@illinois.edu) on 2010-08-31T20:32:54Z Item is restricted until 2012-08-31T20:32:49Z","Item reinstated by Sarah Shreeves (sshreeve@illinois.edu) on 2012-09-07T16:43:38Z Item was in collections: University of Illinois Dissertations and Theses (ID: 204) Dissertations and Theses - Materials Science and Engineering (ID: 649) No. of bitstreams: 4 Hu_Liang.pdf: 3020760 bytes, checksum: 5bebefa4980f0efce1f35b761bef2fed (MD5) 1_Hu_Liang.pdf: 3020729 bytes, checksum: 3e03220c11d555f6d7267cd441e650e4 (MD5) license.txt: 4058 bytes, checksum: 2c28c8093a827a64f42e5be04e3171ef (MD5) 1_Hu_Liang.pdf.txt: 253121 bytes, checksum: 4c022f771c05665a5059e02c9a78ab66 (MD5)","Item released from any restrictions by Sarah Shreeves (sshreeve@illinois.edu) on 2012-09-07T16:43:38Z"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/17047"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2010 Liang Hu"],"dc:subject":["Silver-alkanethiolate","Self-assembled monolayer","Size effect","Melting point depression"],"dc:title":["Size effects on self-assembly and melting of silver-alkanethiolate on inert surfaces"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Materials Science & Engr"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:09Z"}