Generation and spectroscopic investigations of molecular nanoparticles, aerosols and clusters

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The rapidly growing interest in molecular nanoparticles, aerosols, and clusters with diameters ranging from subnanometers to microns arises from their increasing relevance in many different fields. Molecular particles of widely varying composition play an important role as aerosols in atmospheric processes or as reactive sites in interstellar dust. To understand their influence on corresponding processes and to control their formation it is crucial to know the chemical composition, the size, the reactivity, and the formation processes of these particles. This knowledge opens up other fields of application such as nanoparticles of pharmaceutical agents which are attractive drug delivery systems for medical applications. The major goal here is the preparation of encapsulated or coated drug particles for the controlled drug delivery. The key objective of our research is the controlled generation and detailed characterization of such complex molecular systems. This comprises the setup and optimization of many different particle generation methods which allow us to investigate particles of a variety of substances. For the characterization of molecular particles spectroscopic methods are of paramount importance for instance because they are sensitive and can be used under a wide range of different conditions. To account for this we will employ and newly develop corresponding spectroscopic tools which work from the infrared to the extreme ultraviolet ranges and which are specifically tailored to study particulate systems. With this we plan to set up corresponding reference databases which are of practical importance for instance in the process control and for the investigation of atmospheric aerosols. By combining our experiments with detailed computer modelling we ultimately aim to unravel the microscopic origin of the characteristic patterns found in the spectra of these weakly bound particles. Only such a fundamental understanding will bring this research field forward and with it corresponding applications.