Dissertation

Molecular and Nano-Engineering with Iron, Ruthenium and Carbon: Hybrid structures for Sensing

Metal complexes and 2D materials like graphene were combined to produce structures that can function as sensors.

Author: Geest, E.P. van
Date: 14 January 2021
Links: Thesis in Leiden Reposiotry

Metal complexes and 2D materials like graphene were combined to produce structures that can function as sensors. Using spin crossover materials, both in bulk single crystal form and in thin layer form, graphene-based electronic sensors were produced and characterized that can detect spin switches in the spin crossover materials. At the same time, the light-activatable ruthenium complexes were researched for their application in sensors that can monitor reactions that were triggered by light. We found that the photoreaction of a ruthenium complex with a nucleobase could be triggered in paper-based graphene devices. Moreover, we found that this ruthenium scaffold could also be used to increase the signal strength in a nanopore-based DNA detection system. Lastly, a ruthenium complex was designed that had a sensing function built in, as a dual-function molecule with a sensing and anticancer function. Overall, combining metal complexes with graphene was found to be a successful strategy to produce hybrid structures for sensing.