page_title: Nanomesh
section_title: Properties
hierarchical_section_title: Nanomesh / Properties
caption_attribution_description: English: naphthalocyanine evaporated on nanomesh
context_page_description: The nanomesh is an inorganic nanostructured two-dimensional material, similar to graphene. It was discovered in 2003 at the University of Zurich, Switzerland
  .
  It consists of a single layer of boron and nitrogen atoms, which forms by self-assembly into a highly regular mesh after high-temperature exposure of a clean rhodium or ruthenium surface to borazine under ultra-high vacuum.
  The nanomesh looks like an assembly of hexagonal pores at the nanometer scale. The distance between two pore centers is only 3.2 nm, whereas each pore has a diameter of about 2 nm and is 0.05 nm deep. The lowest regions bind strongly to the underlying metal, while the wires are only bound to the surface through strong cohesive forces within the layer itself.
  The boron nitride nanomesh is not only stable under vacuum, air and some liquids, but also up to temperatures of 796ᵒC. In addition it shows the extraordinary ability to trap molecules and metallic clusters, which have similar sizes to the nanomesh pores, forming a well-ordered array.
context_section_description: The nanomesh is stable under a wide range of environments like air, water and electrolytes among others. It is also temperature resistant since it does not decompose in temperatures up to 1275K under a vacuum. In addition to these exceptional stabilities, the nanomesh shows the extraordinary ability to act as a scaffold for metallic nanoclusters and to trap molecules forming a well-ordered array.
  In the case of gold (Au), its evaporation on the nanomesh leads to formation of well-defined round Au nanoparticles, which are centered at the nanomesh pores.
  The STM figure on the right shows Naphthalocyanine (Nc) molecules, which were vapor-deposited onto the nanomesh. These planar molecules have a diameter of about 2 nm, whose size is comparable to that of the nanomesh pores (see upper inset). It is spectacularly visible how the molecules form a well-ordered array with the periodicity of the nanomesh (3.22 nm). The lower inset shows a region of this substrate with higher resolution, where individual molecules are trapped inside the pores. In addition, the molecules seem to keep their native conformation, what means that their functionality is kept, which is nowadays a challenge in nanoscience.
  Such systems with wide spacing between individual molecules/clusters and negligible intermolecular interactions might be interesting for applications such as molecular electronics and memory elements, in photochemistry or in optical devices.
  See  for more detailed information.
caption: Naphthalocyanine molecules evaporated onto the nanomesh. They only adsorb in pores, forming a well-defined pattern.