Efficient low-temperature oxidation of carbon-cluster anions by SO2

Carbon-cluster anions, CN-, are very reactive toward SO2 (sticking probability of 0.012 +/- 0.005 for C27- at 25 degrees C), in contrast to their inertness toward other common atmospheric gases and pollutants. In flow reactor experiments at ambient temperature and near atmospheric pressure, primary adsorption of SO2 by the carbon cluster anions, N = 4-60, yields CNSO2- or CN-1S-. The inferred elimination of neutral CO2 is also detected as meta-stable decay in collision-induced dissociation. At higher temperatures, the reaction of SO2 with nascent carbon clusters yields CN-1SO- as well as undetected CO. The size-dependent initial reactivity reflects the previously established structural transitions (i.e., from chain to cyclic to cage structures). Such carbon clusters are formed in sooting flames and may act as nuclei for the formation of primary soot particles and serve as models for the local structural features of active soot particle sites for black-carbon soot. The facile generation of reactive carbon-sulfide and -sulfinate units may therefore have implications for understanding the health and environmental effects attributed to the coincidence of soot and SO2.     

Oxygen adsorption on hydrated gold cluster anions: experiment and theory

The discovery that supported gold clusters act as highly efficient catalysts for low-temperature oxidation reactions has led to a great deal of work aimed at understanding the origins of the catalytic activity. Several studies have shown that the presence of trace moisture is required for the catalysts to function. Using near-atmospheric pressure flow reactor techniques, we have studied humidity and temperature effects on the reactivity of gas-phase gold cluster anions with O2. Near room temperature, the humid source produces abundant gold-hydroxy cluster anions, Au(N)OH(-), and these have a reversed O2 adsorption activity: Nonreactive bare gold clusters become active when in the form Au(N)OH(-), while active bare clusters are inactive when -OH is bound. The binding energies for the stable structures obtained from density functional calculations confirm fully these findings. Moreover, the theory provides evidence that electron-transfer induced by the binding of a OH group enhances the reactivity toward molecular oxygen for odd anionic gold clusters and suppresses the reactivity for the even ones. The temperature dependence of O2 addition to Au(3)OH(-) and Au(4)(-) indicates deviations from equilibrium control at temperatures below room temperature. The effects of humidity on gold cluster adsorption activity support the conclusion drawn for the mechanism of O2 adsorption on "dry" gold cluster anions and provides insight into the possible role of water in the enhanced activity of supported gold cluster catalysts.     

Cluster beams from passivated nanocrystals

Stable, intense beams of large metal clusters (from 10² to 10³ Au or Ag atoms) can be produced by laser desorption of molecular films of passivated nanocrystals that have undergone fractionation by size and a separate structural characterization. The mass onset of the desorbed species corresponds directly to the dimensions of the nanocrystal core, indicating that only the surfactant shell is lost during desorption. Photofragmentation, photoionization, and photodetachment from beams of large metal clusters, generated in this way, have all been observed.     

Fragmentation and reaction processes in cluster-surface collisions

We review the processes which have been observed from collisions between alkali-halide clusters and solid surfaces. Soft impact of nanocrystalline Na_nF _n?1 ⁺ clusters against solid surfaces causes them to cleave along the lowest energy (100) plane. At higher collision energies (E_i>1 eV/atom), an evaporative cascade occurs which is characteristic of a transformation of the nanocrystal to a molten state. Efficient F^? transfer from the cluster to the surface can occur for the larger clusters (>60 atoms) scattering from Si(111), in direct competition with the cleaving channel at low energies. In this regime, strong bonds can form between the F^? and silicon surface. The reaction probability increases with cluster size indicating that an impact-initiated shock wave is needed to enhance the reactive process.     

Spectroscopy of Na3

The excitation spectrum of Na₃ was systematically investigated from 700 to 330 nm. Four excited states were observed. One of them exhibits fractional quantization of the vibronic pseudorotation which constitutes the first direct verification of the adiabatic sign-change theorem. Photofragmentation is studied by depletion spectroscopy and the 420 nm system is found to be completely predissociated. The structure of the ground state and the ionization potential are also measured.