Thionin adsorption on silicon (1 0 0): Structural analysis

In the search of new photoactive species that may be of use either in energy conversion or in photodynamic therapy, we studied the functionalization of silicon (10 0) with thionin using the glutaraldehyde coupling reaction. Surface properties were obtained by ellipsometric measurements, atomic force microscopy, and luminescence spectroscopy, which indicated the formation of a well organised monolayer in the silicon surface. In addition, the comparison of Raman spectroscopy data with first-principles pseudopotential calculations of the vibrational modes of the thionin molecule also indicate the formation of a monolayer of intact thionin molecules. Therefore, the simple functionalization process (involving only mild aqueous solution chemistry) described here works well and can be used to construct smooth monolayers of photoactive molecules with functional amine groups.