Molecular orientation of terephthalic acid assembly on epitaxial graphene: NEXAFS and XPS study.

The adsorption of terephthalic acid molecules [C(6)H(4)(COOH)(2)), TPA] on a single layer of graphene grown epitaxially on Ni(111) has been investigated by means of near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) at room temperature. The assignment of the NEXAFS resonances was aided by ab initio calculations for the free TPA molecule. For coverages up to a monolayer the molecular plane of TPA adopts a parallel orientation with regard to the epitaxial graphene (EG) layer. Deprotonation of TPA molecules at one monolayer coverage can be excluded. For TPA multilayers, the molecular plane is tilted on average by approximately 45° with respect to the sample surface.