Nanocalorimetry study of the evolution of melting characteristics of single layer silver alkanethiolate lamella: Fast heating/cooling and electrical annealing

Nanocalorimetry (NanoDSC) is applied to measure the melting characteristics of single layer silver pentadecanethiolate (AgSC15) crystals. Its attribute of high sensitivity enables the characterization of single layer species. The fast heating (∼50,000 K/s) and cooling (∼104 K/s) rates employed allow an in situ study of lamella layer evolution. By controlling the maximum temperature (Tmax) achieved during heating/cooling cycles, the samples can be either melted or annealed. If Tmax is larger than sample melting point (Tm), the first NanoDSC pulse shows the melting behavior of the as-synthesized crystal. The following rapid cooling (quenching) causes crystallinity loss. If Tmax is smaller than Tm, electrical annealing takes place and partially recovers the quenched layered structure, but the melting enthalpy never reaches that of the first pulse.