Chemical Kinetics and Dynamics at Interfaces: Structure and Reactivity of Ices, Amorphous Solids, and Supercooled Liquid Solutions (Kay's BES-Surface Kinetics, PNNL Scope #16248)
EMSL Project ID
21890
Abstract
The objective of this research is to examine physiochemical phenomena occurring at the surface and within the bulk of ices, amorphous solids, and supercooled liquid solutions. The microscopic details of physisorption, chemisorption, and reactivity of these materials are important to unravel the kinetics and dynamic mechanisms involved in heterogeneous (e.g., gas/liquid) processes. This fundamental research is relevant to solvation and liquid solutions, glasses and deeply supercooled liquids, heterogeneous catalysis, environmental chemistry, and astrochemistry. Our research goal is to provide a quantitative understanding of elementary kinetic processes in these complex systems. Our approach will be to use molecular beams to synthesize "chemically tailored" nanoscale films as model systems to study ices, amorphous materials, and supercooled liquids. In addition to their utility as a synthetic tool, molecular beams are ideally suited for investigating the heterogeneous chemical properties of these novel films. Modulated molecular beam techniques enable us to determine the adsorption, diffusion, sequestration, reaction, and desorption kinetics in real-time. The dynamics and kinetic processes occurring in the nanoscale films are probed using variety of experimental techniques including temperature programmed desorption, atomic beam surface scattering, Auger, LEED, XPS, and FTIR spectroscopies. Elucidation of these processes will further our understanding of solvation and reactions in multi-phase, multi-component solutions and in determining reaction mechanisms in heterogeneous systems.
Project Details
Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2006-10-01
End Date
2007-08-09
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members