Thermodynamic controlled hierarchical assembly of ternary supramolecular networks at the liquid-solid interface

A study was conducted to demonstrate the formation of thermodynamic controlled hierarchical assembly of ternary supramolecular networks at the liquid-solid interface. It was demonstrated that nonporous bicomponent hydrogen bonded network was formed by two three-fold symmetric building blocks upon coadsorption and that the inclusion of a proper template coronene caused transformation of this bicomponent nonporous network into a variety of porous networks. This resulted in the formation of highly ordered ternary 2D chiral crystalline architectures with complex unit cells. Significant change in the network structure and composition after addition of coronene was attributed to the strong interaction between coronene and trimesic acid (TMA). A significant change in the network structure was also observed when coronene was added onto a surface covered with a nonporous StOF-COOH₃/TMA network.