Freiburg 2024 – scientific programme
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MS: Fachverband Massenspektrometrie
MS 2: New Methods, Applications, Storage Rings
MS 2.6: Talk
Monday, March 11, 2024, 18:30–18:45, HS 3042
Solvation of Cun+/- in He and H2 — •Olga Lushchikova1, Johannes Reichegger1, Fabio Zappa1, Machael Gatchell2, Massimiliano Bartolomei3, Jose Campos-Martínez3, Tomas González-Lezana3, Fernando Pirani3, and Paul Scheier1 — 1Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Austria — 2Department of Physics, Stockholm University, Sweden — 3Instituto de Física Fundamental, IFF-CSIC, Spain
The exploration of copper's versatility in hydrogen (H2) and helium (He) interactions at a microscale holds promise for novel energy storage and chemical applications. This research addresses the intricate challenges of understanding these interactions. Through mass spectrometry, we investigate how small copper clusters (Cun+/-, n=1-10) solvate in He and H2. Grown within superfluid helium nanodroplets, these clusters are exposed to room temperature He or H2, yielding He/H2-solvated copper ions. The low temperature and high collision rate enable the solvation of positively/negatively charged clusters in over fifty H2/He units, analyzed via high-resolution mass spectrometry.
Key findings identify stable structures in Cun+/- clusters, utilizing helium as a probing species. In H2 settings, alongside the Cu core, an H-Cu core has been observed within cationic clusters, displaying a unique series of solvation with the initial layer composed of four H2 molecules. Anionic clusters, in contrast, exhibit very weak binding to both H2 and He. These complexes became observable only due to ultracold helium droplet conditions.
Keywords: metal clusters; structure; solvation; interaction; superfluid helium nanodroplets