Surface Science Approaches to Molecular Nanostructures

The self-assembly of large organic adsorbates on solid surfaces is driven by subtle energy balances between adsorbate-adsorbate and adsorbate-substrate interactions. Understanding these interactions is a key step towards the rational design and large-scale production of ordered, two-dimensional organic nanostructures which may find applications in (opto)electronic devices, sensors and surface catalysts. Due to the reduced dimensionality at surfaces, new phenomena arise which can only be understood by combining both experimental and theoretical methods and knowledge from chemistry and physics. In this short review, we illustrate the richness of surface chemical phenomena at the hand of four case studies which are selected to highlight the potential as well as the current limitations in controlling molecular self-assembly at surfaces.