Excess Electrons in Clusters and Liquid Jets

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Hydrated electrons are important in many areas of the physical sciences. They play a key role in the radiation chemistry in nuclear reactors, and they mediate the damage to DNA caused by ionizing radiation. In this award, funded by the Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms Program of the Chemistry Division, Prof. Daniel Neumark of the University of California, Berkeley and his graduate student colleagues will carry out spectroscopic and dynamical studies of excess electrons in negatively charged clusters, which serve as useful model systems for bulk hydrated electrons. These studies will be done using time-resolved photoelectron imaging (TRPEI), a femtosecond pump-probe technique. The research will seek to characterize the gas phase reactivity of excess electrons in DNA subunits, the time evolution of electronic absorption in negatively charged water clusters, and Auger emission decay in mercury cluster anions. In addition, a project will develop a liquid jet technique to conduct both time-independent and time resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of hydrated electrons in bulk water.The studies outlined will have a number of broader scientific impacts, since solvated electrons are ubiquitous in a number of scientific areas including atmospheric chemistry, biology, and medicine. The experiments on mercury cluster anions will shed light the photophysics of quantum dots and thus have relevance to solar energy conversion. The graduate students trained in this program will acquire significant skills in experimental and theoretical chemical physicsresearch.