Investigation of a Tetrathiafulvalene-Based Fe2+ Thermal Spin Crossover Assembled on Gold Surface

A thick film and a monolayer of tetrathiafulvalene-based Fe2+ spin-crossover complex have been deposited by solution on a Au (111) substrate, attempting both self-assembling monolayer protocol and a simpler drop-casting procedure. The thermally induced spin transition has been investigated using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Temperature-dependent investigations demonstrated the retention of the switching behavior between the two spin states in thick molecular films obtained by drop-casting, while in the monolayer sample, the loss of the spin-crossover properties appears as a possible consequence of the strong interaction between the sulfur atoms of the ligand and the gold substrate.