Mohamed M. Chehimi - Aryl Diazonium Salts and Related Compounds: Surface Chemistry and Applications

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Nearly, 30 years after the introduction of the grafting reactions of diazonium salts and 10 years after the first book Aryl Diazonium Salts. New Coupling Agents in Polymer and Surface Science, time had come to bring together the numerous results obtained in the field. The surface modification by reaction of diazonium salts was first observed on glassy carbon and soon after on diamond; this implied thenot so surprisingformation of C-C bonds but the observation of the same reaction on metals was more puzzling. At the beginning, it was necessary to establish the reality of the grafting reaction and the main characteristics of the organic film. The stability of the film and the formation of a covalent bond between metals and aryl groups, a distinctive feature of this reaction, had to be demonstrated. The structure and the formation mechanism of the organic film had to be established. At the same time, the first possible applications appeared, for example, in organic electronics while industrialization concerned specialty pigments and fillers.

During the last decade, the fundamental characteristics of the reaction were refined; for example, advances have appeared in the control and the molecular observation of the film. On the one hand, the experimental findings were supported by theoretical simulations that provided the nature and the energy of the bond between the substrate and the film. On the other hand, the scope of the reaction was considerably enlarged, involving new activation processes (e.g., by photochemistry, plasmon excitation, or direct formation of capped nanoparticles). New materials (graphene, carbon nanotubes, MXenes, natural clay, nanocatalysts, and polymers) were involved in the reaction, and new potential applications have appeared. The process is now of common use in different research areas: analytical chemistry, composite materials, organic electronics, catalysis, forensics, and nanomedicine to name but a few. Finally, some industrial applications have appeared, and several start-ups are investigating other possible developments.

As the grafting reaction is closely related to the other organic reactions of diazonium salts, we have added two chapters that examine the chemistry of diazonium salts including their solution chemistry; they should permit to include the surface modification in a larger landscape and hopefully open new perspectives. We also included a chapter concerning the surface modification with iodonium salts; they are closely related to diazonium salts. The book is split into two major sections: the first chapters () cover a vast panorama of possible applications from analytical to material and energy sciences.

We would like to take this opportunity to warmly thank all contributors from the five continents for their time and willingness to share their knowledge and latest developments in the field. With 23 chapters for this second book compared to 14 chapters in 2012, clearly the surface chemistry of diazonium salts and the related compounds is investigated worldwide by remarkably increasing number of laboratories.

We, editors, do hope that this book will be useful to the readers interested in this topic; they will find both an overview of the process and its development in current and emerging fields.