Engineering inorganic interfaces using molecular nanolayers

Abstract

Advances in interface science over the last 20 years have demonstrated the use of molecular nanolayers (MNLs) at inorganic interfaces to access emergent phenomena and enhance a variety of interfacial properties. Here, we capture important aspects of how a MNL can induce multifold enhancements and tune multiple interfacial properties, including chemical stability, fracture energy, thermal and electrical transport, and electronic structure. Key challenges that need to be addressed for the maturation of this emerging field are described and discussed. MNL-induced interfacial engineering has opened up attractive opportunities for designing organic–inorganic hybrid nanomaterials with high interface fractions, where properties are determined predominantly by MNL-induced interfacial effects for applications.