Tribochemical Surface Modification of Silicon
- 1School of Molecular and Life Sciences Curtin University Bentley Western Australia Australia
- 2Flinders Institute for Nanoscale Science & Technology, Flinders University, Bedford Park Adelaide South Australia Australia
Abstract
Herein, we introduce a tribochemical approach for activating silicon surfaces through mechanical scratching, triggering remarkably fast spontaneous reactions with organic molecules terminated with thiol (─SH), alcohol (─OH), or alkyne. The reaction proceeds under ambient conditions in dilute solutions (10–50 mM) without the need for light, elevated temperature, or external voltages. The resulting modified surfaces were characterized using electrochemical methods and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, confirming successful attachment of the molecules. Remarkably, the reaction occurs within only 10 s of exposure to dilute solutions of the molecule, yielding substantial surface coverages of silicon‐bound ferrocenemethanol, 11‐(ferrocenyl)undecanethiol, and ferrocene‐terminated alkyne species of more than 1014 molecules cm− 2. We attribute this reactivity to mechanically induced cleavage of Si─Si bonds, which generates highly reactive Si surface radicals that promote bond formation with the molecules. The ability to drive rapid reactions of Si with ─SH‐ and ─OH‐containing molecules is particularly significant given the prevalence of these functional groups in biomolecules, highlighting the potential of this strategy for sensing at biointerfaces and for molecular electronics.
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BibTeX
@article{abdulrahman2026tribochemical,
title = {{Tribochemical Surface Modification of Silicon}},
author = {Abdulrahman O. Abdulrahman and Kieran Reeve and Zane Datson and Tiexin Li and Melanie MacGregor and Simone Ciampi and Nadim Darwish},
journal = {Chemistry (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1002/chem.71435},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.71435},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Tribochemical Surface Modification of Silicon
AU - Abdulrahman O. Abdulrahman
AU - Kieran Reeve
AU - Zane Datson
AU - Tiexin Li
AU - Melanie MacGregor
AU - Simone Ciampi
AU - Nadim Darwish
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/22
JO - Chemistry (Weinheim an Der Bergstrasse, Germany)
DO - 10.1002/chem.71435
UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.71435
AB - Herein, we introduce a tribochemical approach for activating silicon surfaces through mechanical scratching, triggering remarkably fast spontaneous reactions with organic molecules terminated with thiol (─SH), alcohol (─OH), or alkyne. The reaction proceeds under ambient conditions in dilute solutions (10–50 mM) without the need for light, elevated temperature, or external voltages. The resulting modified surfaces were characterized using electrochemical methods and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, confirming successful attachment of the molecules. Remarkably, the reaction occurs within only 10 s of exposure to dilute solutions of the molecule, yielding substantial surface coverages of silicon‐bound ferrocenemethanol, 11‐(ferrocenyl)undecanethiol, and ferrocene‐terminated alkyne species of more than 1014 molecules cm− 2. We attribute this reactivity to mechanically induced cleavage of Si─Si bonds, which generates highly reactive Si surface radicals that promote bond formation with the molecules. The ability to drive rapid reactions of Si with ─SH‐ and ─OH‐containing molecules is particularly significant given the prevalence of these functional groups in biomolecules, highlighting the potential of this strategy for sensing at biointerfaces and for molecular electronics.
SN - 0947-6539
SN - 1521-3765
ER -