Fabrication and Characterization of Ruthenium Complex-Vanadium Oxide Gel Hybrid Langmuir-Blodgett Films

Hybrid Langmuir-Blodgett films of an amphiphilic ruthenium tris-bipyridine complex (DCnRu, n = 7, 13 and 19) and vanadium oxide gel were fabricated and characterized. Langmuir monolayers of the amphiphilic molecules hybridized and stabilized with layered vanadium oxide were transferred onto a solid substrate as z-type multilayers with a transfer ratio close to unity. AFM observation revealed that the monolayer had a smooth surface with roughness of 5 nm over 1 μm2. The hybrid monolayer of the vanadium oxide and DCnRu showed photo-induced electron transfer to methyl viologens through the conduction band of the vanadium oxide.