The key aspect of molecular engineering towards functional low dimensional nanomaterials is the controlled construction of well-ordered molecular nanostructures, in terms of shapes, size, composition, symmetry, chirality, etc. In principle, the molecular nanostructures can be classified into two categories according to the interactions between molecules: (1) structures formed by week non-covalent interactions like hydrogen bond, halogen bond, van der Waals interactions, coordination interactions; (2) structures formed by covalent bonds. The formation of these two types of nanostructures on surface involves the processes of molecular self-assembling and surface reaction, respectively.

   Particularly, our group focus on the building of new molecular self-assembled structures with novel electrical or catalytical properties. The comprehensive utilization of halogen bonding, hydrogen bonding, coordination and other weak interactions enables the construction of fractal, hierarchical, chiral, and nano-pored structures on the surface. 

  Our group also focus on the utilization of the strategy of self-assembly to mediate the regioselectivity, site-selectivity and reaction pathway of surface reactions. We are interested in the fundamental scientific question that how the self-assembly will influence the reactivity of individual molecule, the electronic property of the substrate, and the construction of novel covalent nanostructures.