Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
190,839 studies31 sourcesUpdated 35 min ago
PreprintarXiv licencearXiv

The absence of a central metal ion destabilizes phthalocyanine on In2O3(111)

  • Viktoria Waidbacher
  • Sarah Tobisch
  • Faith J. Lewis
  • Moritz Eder
  • Michael Schmid
  • Gareth Parkinson
  • Ulrike Diebold
  • Margareta Wagner
Open at sourcePDFDOICite

Abstract

Metal phthalocyanines (MPc) are a versatile molecular platform for applications ranging from organic optoelectronic devices to single-atom catalysis (SAC). Their adsorption and layer formation on the prototypical transparent electrode substrates of organic optoelectronic devices is directly relevant for charge injection and transport across the organic-oxide interface. Moreover, the well-defined M-N4 coordination of the metal cation defines their activity as SACs for (electro-)catalysis. Here, the adsorption of the metal-free phthalocyanine (H2Pc) is characterized on In2O3(111) using low-temperature STM, nc-AFM, and STS. In2O3 is not only a model system of indium tin oxide (ITO) but also an active catalytic material for CO2 reduction. H2Pc adsorbs in the same site and configuration reported for copper phthalocyanine [J. Mater. Chem. C 13, 17650-17661 (2025)] and for the majority of cobalt phthalocyanine [Surf. Sci. 722, 122065 (2022)]. Despite this shared preference in adsorption site, H2Pc cannot be organized into extended and ordered monolayer structures by gentle annealing: the molecule starts to decompose at ≈50∘C, well below the temperature used to grow monolayers of CoPc and CuPc. Self-metalation is not observed on stoichiometric In2O3(111). On the reduced surface where In0 adatoms are present, new H2Pc-related features appear but cannot be identified by imaging only. The comparison of H2Pc with CoPc and CuPc identifies distinct roles of the central metal ion in the metal-Pc/In2O3(111) systems: it acts as a structural anchor that stabilizes the macrocycle against decomposition on the surface, and it modifies the frontier-orbital character in ways that determine whether a second adsorption configuration is populated.

Related

  1. Modulating the majority charge carrier type and performance of organic heterojunction ammonia sensors by increasing peripheral fluorination of the silicon phthalocyanine sublayer
    Benjamin King, Sujithkumar Ganesh Moorthy, Eric Lesniewska +3
    Sensors and Actuators B: ChemicalPeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full text25 citedGeneral chemistryGeneral physicsHAL
  2. Absence of Continuous Spin Particles in Superstring Theory
    Arwa Alabbasi, Fernando Quevedo
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textHigh-energy & particle physicsarXiv
  3. Proof of the absence of local conserved quantities in the Holstein model
    Fuga Ishii, Mizuki Sanatani
    arXivPreprintarXiv licenceFull textMathematical physicsQuantum physics & quantum informationarXiv
  4. The effective gravitational action of a massless chiral fermion and the absence of parity-odd contributions
    J. Anero, Carmelo P. Martin
    arXivPreprintCC BY 4.0Full textGravitation & general relativityHigh-energy & particle physicsarXiv
  5. Generalized Hydrodynamics of Bloch Oscillations in the Absence of a Lattice
    Stefano Scopa, Philip Zechmann, Michael Knap +2
    Physical Review LettersPeer-reviewedarXiv licenceFull textAtomic, molecular & optical physicsCondensed matterHALarXiv

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@misc{waidbacher2026absence,
  title = {{The absence of a central metal ion destabilizes phthalocyanine on In$_2$O$_3$(111)}},
  author = {Viktoria Waidbacher and Sarah Tobisch and Faith J. Lewis and Moritz Eder and Michael Schmid and Gareth Parkinson and Ulrike Diebold and Margareta Wagner},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.08742},
  eprint = {2609.08742},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.08742},
}
RIS
TY  - UNPB
TI  - The absence of a central metal ion destabilizes phthalocyanine on In_2O_3(111)
AU  - Viktoria Waidbacher
AU  - Sarah Tobisch
AU  - Faith J. Lewis
AU  - Moritz Eder
AU  - Michael Schmid
AU  - Gareth Parkinson
AU  - Ulrike Diebold
AU  - Margareta Wagner
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/08
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.08742
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.08742
AB  - Metal phthalocyanines (MPc) are a versatile molecular platform for applications ranging from organic optoelectronic devices to single-atom catalysis (SAC). Their adsorption and layer formation on the prototypical transparent electrode substrates of organic optoelectronic devices is directly relevant for charge injection and transport across the organic-oxide interface. Moreover, the well-defined M-N_4 coordination of the metal cation defines their activity as SACs for (electro-)catalysis. Here, the adsorption of the metal-free phthalocyanine (H_2Pc) is characterized on In_2O_3(111) using low-temperature STM, nc-AFM, and STS. In_2O_3 is not only a model system of indium tin oxide (ITO) but also an active catalytic material for CO_2 reduction. H_2Pc adsorbs in the same site and configuration reported for copper phthalocyanine [J. Mater. Chem. C 13, 17650-17661 (2025)] and for the majority of cobalt phthalocyanine [Surf. Sci. 722, 122065 (2022)]. Despite this shared preference in adsorption site, H_2Pc cannot be organized into extended and ordered monolayer structures by gentle annealing: the molecule starts to decompose at ≈50^∘C, well below the temperature used to grow monolayers of CoPc and CuPc. Self-metalation is not observed on stoichiometric In_2O_3(111). On the reduced surface where In^0 adatoms are present, new H_2Pc-related features appear but cannot be identified by imaging only. The comparison of H_2Pc with CoPc and CuPc identifies distinct roles of the central metal ion in the metal-Pc/In_2O_3(111) systems: it acts as a structural anchor that stabilizes the macrocycle against decomposition on the surface, and it modifies the frontier-orbital character in ways that determine whether a second adsorption configuration is populated.
ER  -