Tuning intermolecular attraction to create polar order and one-dimensional nanostructures on surfaces.

This study utilizes atomic force microscopy and electrostatic force microscopy to investigate the orientation of overcrowded aromatics in films with submonolayer coverage. The results demonstrate that the side chains in the molecules can be used as a tool to control the molecular order and orientation in thin films. For molecules that do not self-associate well, the interaction with the substrate dominates, and the molecules orient with their aromatic planes parallel to the surface.

Molecular encapsulation.

Louis Kahn, architect of the Salk Institute in LaJolla, said "even a common, ordinary brick wants to be something more than it is". Suppose that were also true of molecules. We know that they can and do aggregate; they give complex structures, and by doing so they acquire new properties--functions that may not be apparent from a study of the individual components.