Application of confinement effects in on-surface chemistry

Fabrication of different functionalized nanostructures by on-surface “bottom-up” approach has drawn much attention in recent years. In order to realize a controllable synthesis of target nanostructures, well-designed precursors, suitable substrates and proper experiment conditions have to be selected. Particularly, some special surface-based confinement effects have been utilized for steering on-surface reactions. In this feature article, combined studies from our group, we summarize recent studies of different kinds of confinement effects in surface chemistry, which includes four aspects: (1) controlling the species of products through adsorbate-substrate symmetry matching; (2) steering on-surface reaction through a steric-hindrance effect of precursors; (3) control of the dimensions and morphologies of the products by employing super-gratings templates; (4) steering on-surface reaction by self-assembly approaches. Furthermore, we provide a short outlook for precise on-surface synthesis through two-dimensional confinement effects at the end.