Abstract
The major challenges of molecular electronics are the understanding and manipulation of the electron transport through the single-molecule junction. With the single-molecule break junction techniques, including scanning tunneling microscope break junction technique and mechanically controllable break junction technique, the charge transport through various single-molecule and supramolecular junctions has been studied during the dynamic fabrication and continuous characterization of molecular junctions. This review starts from the charge transport characterization of supramolecular junctions through a variety of noncovalent interactions, such as hydrogen bond, π–π interaction, and electrostatic force. We further review the recent progress in constructing highly conductive molecular junctions via chemical reactions, the response of molecular junctions to external stimuli, as well as the application of break junction techniques in controlling and monitoring chemical reactions in situ. We suggest that beyond the measurement of single molecular conductance, the single-molecule break junction techniques provide a promising access to study molecular assembly and chemical reactions at the single-molecule scale.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21673195, 21503179, 61573295, 21403181), Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (No. 2016J05162), Young Thousand Talent Project of China, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Xiamen University: Nos. 20720170035, 20720160092).
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This article is part of the Topical Collection “Molecular-Scale Electronics: Current Status and Perspective”: edited by Xuefeng Guo.
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Li, X., Hu, D., Tan, Z. et al. Supramolecular Systems and Chemical Reactions in Single-Molecule Break Junctions. Top Curr Chem (Z) 375, 42 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41061-017-0123-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41061-017-0123-x