Formation of cyclodextrin monolayer through a host–guest interaction with tailor-made phenyltriethoxysilane self-assembled monolayer

•A simple yet effective platform for investigating host–guest systems is introduced.•A two-stage growth mechanism for the self-assembly of phenyltriethoxysilane is proposed.•Ethoxyl groups of phenyltriethoxysilane play an important role in controlling molecular distance and surface hydrophilicity.•The different inclusion configurations in α- and β-CD self-assembled monolayer are described.