Generation and spectroscopic investigations of molecular nanoparticles, aerosols and clusters

对分子纳米粒子、气溶胶和直径从亚纳米到微米的团簇的快速增长的兴趣源于它们在许多不同领域中日益增长的相关性。组成差异很大的分子粒子在大气过程中作为气溶胶或在星际尘埃中作为反应场所发挥着重要作用。为了了解它们对相应过程的影响并控制它们的形成，了解这些颗粒的化学成分、大小、反应性和形成过程是至关重要的。这一知识开辟了其他应用领域，如药物纳米粒，这些药物是医疗应用中有吸引力的药物输送系统。这里的主要目标是制备用于受控给药的包囊或包衣的药物颗粒。我们研究的主要目标是控制这种复杂分子体系的生成和详细表征。这包括建立和优化许多不同的粒子生成方法，使我们能够研究各种物质的粒子。例如，对于分子颗粒的表征，光谱方法是至关重要的，因为它们是灵敏的，可以在各种不同的条件下使用。为了解决这一问题，我们将采用和新开发相应的光谱工具，从红外到极端紫外线范围工作，并专门为研究颗粒系统量身定做。在此基础上，我们计划建立相应的参考数据库，这些数据库在过程控制和大气气溶胶研究等方面具有实际意义。通过将我们的实验与详细的计算机模拟相结合，我们最终的目标是揭开在这些弱结合粒子光谱中发现的特征图案的微观起源。只有这样一个根本性的认识才能推动这一研究领域的发展和相应的应用。

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.