Electrically Induced Mixed Valence Increases the Conductivity of Copper Helical Metallopolymers.

ABSTRACT: Controlling the flow of electrical current at the nanoscale typically requires complex top-down approaches. Here, a bottom-up approach is employed to demonstrate resistive switching within molecular wires that consist of double-helical metallopolymers and are constructed by self-assembly. When the material is exposed to an electric field, it is determined that ≈25% of the copper atoms oxidize from Cu^I to Cu^II , without rupture of the polymer chain. The ability to sustain such a high level of oxidation is unprecedented in a copper-based molecule: it is made possible here by the double helix compressing in order to satisfy the new coordination geometry required by Cu^II . This mixed-valence structure exhibits a 10⁴ -fold increase in conductivity, wh

SUBMITTER: Greenfield JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11468940 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature