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Liquid Microjet for Photoelectron Spectroscopy
Photoelectron Spectroscopy Meets Aqueous Solution
Water remains a challenging system to study due to its ubiquitous presence in daily life, and due to the important role it plays in many fields of chemistry, biology, and technology. Our group investigates the details of the intermolecular interactions in liquid water and aqueous solutions aiming at a better understanding of water’s exceptional properties, on the microscopic level. We focus on the electronic structure of the ground-state solution, and on (soft) X-ray induced electron dynamics revealing how – on a few-femtosecond time scale – energy and charge is transferred between solute and solvent. Such electronic structure information is essential for a better understanding of chemical reactions in solution. Experimental data are interpreted in collaboration with theory groups.
Solutes currently studied include simple atomic ions in bulk aqueous solution and at the solution interface, biological and environmental relevant molecules in water, such as amino acids and DNA building blocks, molecular surfactants, and acids and bases in aqueous solution.
The Liquid Microjet Below the EA
Liquid-Jet technique has been developed to make photoelectron spectroscopy applicable to highly volatile liquid solutions, including water. Here we exploit normal and several resonant electron-emission processes induced by photo-excitation (usually using synchrotron radiation).
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