Controlled surface assembly and Size-Dependent electronic properties of large C96 nanographenes on Au(111)

• Controlled surface assembly of large C 96 nanographenes on Au(111) using pulsed-valve injection and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). • Pulsed-valve injection yields extended, ordered monolayers; MBE produces isolated molecules and elongated nanostripes. • Partial cleavage of tert -butyl groups occurs upon adsorption, revealing deprotected nanographene cores. • Size-dependent electronic properties: small stripes are semiconducting (∼1 eV gap), while larger assemblies exhibit quasi-metallic behavior. • Demonstrates tunable electronic functionality of high-molecular-weight PAHs for bottom-up molecular nanoelectronics.