This is the best description I have of my senior project this far. The following document is actually a grant proposal I wrote to get the $468.55 that I needed for certain supplies.
Purpose
The purpose of this project is to determine the morphological structure of tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porhine (TCPP) films. ([Terui et al., Structural study of porphyrin isomers on metal substrates by using STM](http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0040609004008090))
To begin, a determination of how these molecules lie on the substrate will be conducted.
Metalloporphyrins such as TCPP are useful for their biological functions (D. Dolphin, The Porphyrins), use as chemical sensors ([Paolesse et al., Porphyrin thin films coated quartz crystal microbalances prepared by electropolymerization technique](Porphyrin thin films coated quartz crystal microbalances prepared by electropolymerization technique), and potential use in spintronics ([Scheybal et al., Induced Magnetic Ordering In a Molecular Monolayer]( http://lmn.web.psi.ch/annrep/ann04_4.pdf)) (devices that utilize the magnetic orientation as an information carrier).
With a better understanding of TCPP films it will be possible to improve the theoretical calculations of the qualities of interest, electronic structure & properties. This in turn assists experimentalists to actually find and utilize the qualities of interest.
__Hypothesis:__ The TCPP samples lie parallel to the plane of the substrate, and provide a good basis for further work in determining a crystal formulation of TCPP.
Description
__Sample:__ Inserting manganese (Mn) in the center of TCPP, and Nickel (Ni) at the bridge sites between the macromolecules as shown in the above image gives TCPP magnetic qualities, and potentially allows it to move charge carriers with a specific magnetic alignment through an electronic block.
__Measurement:__ In conjunction with an atomic force microprobe (AFM), scanning tunneling microprobe (STM) measurements can help determine the structure of the films as they stack.
Prior research has attached molecules of tertiary-butyl-methoxy-phenyl-porphyrin (TBMPP) to a gold (Au) substrate([Terui et al., Structural study of porphyrin isomers on metal substrates by using STM](http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0040609004008090)). The resulting STM image presented by [Terui et al.](http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0040609004008090) is shown below in part a.
 and the second was Cu(111). a) TBMPP structure on Au(111) surface. STM image of TBMPP monolayer showing the orderly arrangement of the porphyrins on the Au(111) substrate. The scale provided in this image is 5 nm. b) STM images of tertiary-butyl-phenyl-vinyl-phenyl-porphyrin (TBPVPP) sub-monolayer on Cu(111). This demonstrates the lack of order on the Cu(111) substrate. The size of the image is approximately 26 nm wide.”)
The image shown above (part b) shows that the copper (Cu) substrate doesn’t present an orderly arrangement like the Au substrate.
Although the molecules (TCPP, TBMPP, TBPVPP) differ in their attached phenyl groups, the structures are similar enough to give an idea as to how porphyrins attach to these two substrates. This suggests a gold substrate is more appropriate for the work at hand.
By following procedures established by [Scuderio et al.](http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/jpcbfk/2000/104/i50/abs/jp002292w.html), [Scuderio et al.](http://www.wsu.edu/~hipps/pdf_files/jacstpp.pdf), and [Terui et al.](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TW0-4D1YY4K-1&_user=10&_coverDate=10%2F31%2F2004&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=d5f963db178225b8a89b36483ed7bd14),
preliminary images may be gathered. These preliminary images may be analyzed for improvement as well as whether a determination can be made from the images.