Hopping conductance in molecular wires exhibits a large heavy-atom kinetic isotope effect

Quyen Van Nguyen, C. Daniel Frisbie

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report a large kinetic isotope effect (KIE) for intramolecular charge transport in π-conjugated oligophenyleneimine (OPI) molecules connected to Au electrodes. 13C and 15N substitution on the imine bonds produces a conductance KIE of ∼2.7 per labeled atom in long OPI wires >4 nm in length, far larger than typical heavy-atom KIEs for chemical reactions. In contrast, isotopic labeling in shorter OPI wires <4 nm does not produce a conductance KIE, consistent with a direct tunneling mechanism. Temperature-dependent measurements reveal that conductance for a long 15N-substituted OPI wire is activated, and we propose that the exceptionally large conductance KIEs imply a thermally assisted, through-barrier polaron tunneling mechanism. In general, observation of large conductance KIEs opens up considerable opportunities for understanding microscopic conduction mechanisms in π-conjugated molecules.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)2638-2643
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume143
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 24 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the financial support of the National Science Foundation (CHE-2003199). Parts of this work were carried out in the Characterization Facility, University of Minnesota, which receives partial support from the NSF through the MRSEC (Award Number DMR-2011401) and NNCI programs (Award Number ECCS-2025124).

Publisher Copyright:
©

Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

MRSEC Support

  • Shared

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

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