What is a self-assembled monolayer Sam in electrochemical biosensing?

Self-assembled monolayer (SAM) provides one simple route to functionalize electrode surfaces by organic molecules (both aliphatic and aromatic) containing free anchor groups such as thiols, disulphides, amines, silanes, or acids.

What is the use of self-assembled monolayers?

SAMs can serve as models for studying membrane properties of cells and organelles and cell attachment on surfaces. SAMs can also be used to modify the surface properties of electrodes for electrochemistry, general electronics, and various NEMS and MEMS.

How are self-assembled monolayers formed?

Figure 1 Self-assembled monolayers are formed by simply immersing a substrate into a solution of the surface-active material. The driving force for the spontaneous formation of the 2D assembly includes chemical bond formation of molecules with the surface and intermolecular interactions.

What is meant by self-assembled monolayer?

A self-assembled monolayer (SAM) is a one molecule thick layer of material that bonds to a surface in an ordered way as a result of physical or chemical forces during a deposition process. Silanes can form SAMs by solution or vapor phase deposition processes. Most commonly, chlorosilanes or alkoxysilanes are used.

How does self-assembly work?

Self-assembly is a process in which a disordered system of pre-existing components forms an organized structure or pattern as a consequence of specific, local interactions among the components themselves, without external direction.

What is static self-assembly?

Static self-assembly denotes a process in which the system reaches an energy minimum (equilibrium) wherein the ordered structure appears. Archetypical examples are structured block copolymers (3, 4), nanoparticles (5, 6), nanorods (7), liquid crystals (8), and hierarchical supramolecular systems (9).

How thick are self assembled monolayers?

The SAM on Ru thickness was determined to be 2.2 ± 0.2 nm using AR-XPS, indicating that the 1-hexadecanethiol is not tilted with respect to the surface.

Is self-assembly possible?

Components for Self-Assembly It is possible now to synthesize many nanoscale structures, colloids, quantum dots, buckytubes, nanotubes, and nanowires, but it remains difficult to induce their self-assembly into functional structures (24, 56–58).

What are some examples of self-assembly?

Examples. Important examples of self-assembly in materials science include the formation of molecular crystals, colloids, lipid bilayers, phase-separated polymers, and self-assembled monolayers.

What are the characteristics of self-assembly?

Self-assembly is the process in which a system’s components—be it molecules, polymers, colloids, or macroscopic particles—organize into ordered and/or functional structures or patterns as a consequence of specific, local interactions among the components themselves, without external direction.

What are the types of self-assembly?

There are two types of self-assembly, intramolecular self-assembly and intermolecular self-assembly. Most often the term molecular self-assembly refers to intermolecular self-assembly, while the intramolecular analog is more commonly called folding.

What is self-assembly materials?

Self-assembly is the process of association of individual units of a material into highly arranged/ordered structures/patterns. It imparts unique properties to both inorganic and organic structures, so generated, via non-covalent interactions.