Organic layers bonded to industrial, coinage, and noble metals through electrochemical reduction of aryldiazonium salts

The reduction of diazonium salts in an aprotic medium permits the attachment of substituted aryl groups to a variety of metals: Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pt, and Au. These aryl groups are strongly bonded to the metal as they resist sustained rinsing under sonication in organic solvents. The organic layers have been characterized by cyclic voltammetry, infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Rutherford backscattering, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. From these data it is possible to propose a structure for these grafted layers.