Citation: Huamei Chen, Damian Nieckarz, Krisztián Palotás, Jie Li, Zhen Xu, Yajie Zhang, Marek Stankevič, Yang He, Kai Wu, Yongfeng Wang, Paweł Szabelski. Nitrogen-doped Sierpiński triangle fractals: From model to reality[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(8): 111280. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111280 shu

Nitrogen-doped Sierpiński triangle fractals: From model to reality

Huamei Chen ^{a, 1} ,
Damian Nieckarz ^{b, 1} ,
Krisztián Palotás ^{c, d} ,
Jie Li ^a ,
Zhen Xu ^a ,
Yajie Zhang ^{a, *,} ,
Marek Stankevič ^e ,
Yang He ^{f, *,} ,
Kai Wu ^g ,
Yongfeng Wang ^{a, *,} ,
Paweł Szabelski ^{b, *,}

a.
Center for Carbon-based Electronics and Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices, School of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
b.
Department of Theoretical Chemistry, Institute of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Chemistry, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Pl. M.C. Skłodowskiej 3, 20-031, Lublin, Poland
c.
Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics, HUN-REN Wigner Research Center for Physics, H-1121, Budapest, Hungary
d.
HUN-REN-SZTE Reaction Kinetics and Surface Chemistry Research Group, University of Szeged, H-6720, Szeged, Hungary
e.
Department of Organic Chemistry and Crystallochemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry Sciences, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Gliniana 33, 20-614, Lublin, Poland
f.
School of Material and New Energy, South China Normal University, Shanwei 516600, China
g.
BNLMS, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

yjzhang11@pku.edu.cn

heyang@m.scnu.edu.cn

yongfengwang@pku.edu.cn

pawel.szabelski@mail.umcs.pl

Received Date: 5 March 2025
Revised Date: 24 April 2025
Accepted Date: 30 April 2025
Available Online: 30 April 2025

Figures(5)

The Sierpiński triangle (ST) is a widely-known deterministic fractal structure that has attracted considerable attention recently. The fabrication of nitrogen-doped defect-free STs is appealing yet challenging. This is due to factors such as the increase in active sites, the random generation of nucleation centers, and the experimental growth conditions. In this contribution, we utilize a combination of density functional theory (DFT), Monte Carlo simulation (MC) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to investigate the formation of nitrogen-doped STs. These STs are formed with nitrogen-rich, conformationally flexible 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine-6,6′′-dicarbonitrile (TDBT) molecules and Fe atoms on Au(111). The replacement of benzenes with three pyridine side groups facilitates the formation of the nitrogen-doped STs with a relatively high order because of the energetic preference of molecular configurations. The introduction of the rigid 4,4″-dicyano-1,1′:3′,1″-terphenyl (C3PC) molecules markedly induces the structural transformation of the STs from ordered to high-entropy. Moreover, the nitrogen-doped STs with an order of up to 4 can be directly visualized by low-temperature STM.
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