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research article

An aperiodic chiral tiling by topological molecular self-assembly

Voigt, Jan
•
Baljozović, Miloš
•
Martin, Kévin
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December 1, 2025
Nature Communications

Studying the self-assembly of chiral molecules in two dimensions offers insights into the fundamentals of crystallization. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we examine an uncommon aggregation of polyaromatic chiral molecules on a silver surface. Dense packing is achieved through a chiral triangular tiling of triads, with N and N ± 1 molecules at the edges. The triangles feature a random distribution of mirror-isomers, with a significant excess of one isomer. Chirality at the domain boundaries causes a lateral shift, producing three distinct topological defects where six triangles converge. These defects partially contribute to the formation of supramolecular spirals. The observation of different equal-density arrangements suggests that entropy maximization must play a crucial role. Despite the potential for regular patterns, all observed tiling is aperiodic. Differences from previously reported aperiodic molecular assemblies, such as Penrose tiling, are discussed. Our findings demonstrate that two-dimensional molecular self-assembly can be governed by topological constraints, leading to aperiodic tiling induced by intermolecular forces.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1038/s41467-024-55405-5
Scopus ID

2-s2.0-85213861034

Author(s)
Voigt, Jan
Baljozović, Miloš
Martin, Kévin
Wäckerlin, Christian  

École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Avarvari, Narcis
Ernst, Karl Heinz
Date Issued

2025-12-01

Publisher

Nature Research

Published in
Nature Communications
Volume

16

Issue

1

Article Number

83

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
GR-CW  
FunderFunding(s)Grant NumberGrant URL

Swiss National Science Foundation

Advanced Molecular Chiral Surface Systems

212167

https://data.snf.ch/grants/grant/212167

Swiss National Science Foundation

Advanced Molecular Chiral Surface Systems

182082

https://data.snf.ch/grants/grant/182082

Swiss National Science Foundation

Opto-electronic and spintronic quantum transport in metal-organic nanowires and nanosheets

202775

https://data.snf.ch/grants/grant/202775
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Available on Infoscience
January 14, 2025
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/242757
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