Category Archives: publications

The optically tuneable nature of hybrid organic/inorganic heterostructures tailored by interfacing photochromic molecules with 2D semiconductors (2DSs) can be exploited to endow multi-responsiveness to the exceptional physical properties of 2DSs. In this study, a spiropyran-molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) light-switchable bi-functional field-effect transistor is realized. The spiropyran-merocyanine reversible photo-isomerization has been employed to remotely control both the… Read More

Submonolayer amounts of chloroaluminum-phthalocyanine on Cu(100) were studied with scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The molecule can be prepared in a fourfold symmetric state whose conductance spectrum exhibits a zero-bias feature similar to a Kondo resonance. In magnetic fields, however, this resonance splits far more than expected from the spin of a single electron. Density functional theory… Read More

Zinc hybrid supercapacitors (Zn-HSCs) hold immense potential toward the next-generation energy storage systems, effectively spanning the divide between conventional lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and supercapacitors. Unfortunately, the energy density of most of Zn-HSCs has not yet rivalled the levels observed in LIBs. The electrochemical performance of aqueous Zn-HSCs can be enhanced through the chemical functionalization of… Read More

The square ice is a canonical example of a Coulomb phase in two dimensions: Its ground state is extensively degenerate and satisfies a local constraint on the spin arrangement (the so-called ice rule). In this paper, we use a loop flip algorithm to explore the properties of this ground state that we analyze not in… Read More

Monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDs) experience strong modulation of their optical properties when the charge density is varied. Indeed, the transition from carriers composed mostly of excitons at low electron density to a situation in which trions dominate at high density is accompanied by a significant evolution of both the refractive index and… Read More

Complexes of cobalt(II) stabilized by lacunary polyoxometalates (CoPOMs) are highly discussed water oxidation catalysts (WOC). While their activity and stability in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) have been widely explored, there is still no consensus between those claiming that CoPOMs are active and stable OER catalysts and those suggesting that they rather act as precatalysts,… Read More

The attachment of redox-active molecules to transition metal dichalcogenides, such as MoS2, constitutes a promising approach for designing electrochemically switchable devices through the control of the material’s charge/spin transport properties by the redox state of the grafted molecule and thus the applied electrical potential. In this work, defective plasma-treated MoS2 is functionalized by a ferrocene… Read More

Molecular electronics targets tiny devices exploiting the electronic properties of the molecular orbitals, which can be tailored and controlled by the chemical structure and configuration of the molecules. Many functional devices have been experimentally demonstrated; however, these devices were operated in the low-frequency domain (mainly dc to MHz). This represents a serious limitation for electronic… Read More

As nano-sized molecular oxides, polyoxometalates (POMs) hold great promise in non-volatile memory materials based on redox-active molecules. Materials processed from solution, by drop-casting, by embedding POMs in polymers, or using layer-by-layer deposition techniques have thus been reported and successfully investigated. Almost all of these examples are electrostatically assembled materials. We herein propose an original route… Read More

Quantum interference (QI) is well recognised as a significant contributing factor to the magnitude of molecular conductance values in both single-molecule and large area junctions. Numerous structure–property relationship studies have shown that para-connected oligo(phenyleneethynylene) (OPE) based molecular wires exemplify the impact of constructive quantum interference (CQI), whilst destructive quantum interference (DQI) effects are responsible for the… Read More