Surface studies with hyperfine probes

The current status of surface hyperfine fields measured with NMR, Mössbauer spectroscopy and PAC is reviewed. Emphasis is put on experiments with well-characterized, free surfaces and on results on surface electric field gradients. Applications to detection of probe sites and diffusion phenomena are discussed.This article is dedicated to the memory of our late colleague Dr. Wolfgang Keppner     

On the use of mass scaled cluster coordinates to describe polyatomic molecule reaction dynamics: Application to O + CS2 → SO + CS

We explore the use of mass scaled cluster coordinates to describe polyatomic molecule reaction dynamics. These coordinates provide the natural extension to polyatomic systems of the familiar atom—diatom model of “rolling a marble” on a skewed and scaled potential surface in that they reduce the kinetic energy of an arbitrary system to one equivalent to that of a single mass point moving in 3N - 3 dimensions. For any given number of atoms, usually several distinct types of mass scaled cluster coordinates can be introduced, all of which are interrelated by orthogonal transformations, and many of which are convenient for describing trajectory motion in one or more arrangement channels. We illustrate these points by an application to the collinear O + CS₂ → SO + CS reaction. For this system, the reagent to product coordinate transformation is conveniently described in terms of two Euler angles α and β, for which β is analogous to the atom—diatom skew angle, and α determines how the reagent vibrational normal modes relate to the product degrees of freedom. Examination of trajectory behavior indicates that the rather small value of π - α (21.7°) leads to a rather clean correlation between CS₂ asymmetric stretch motion and product CS vibrational motion, and between CS₂ symmetric stretch and a combination of SO stretch and product translation. This explains why symmetric stretch mode excitation enhances the O + CS₂ reaction rate more efficiently than asymmetric stretch mode excitation. We also find for O + CS₂ (and many other reactions for which the unbroken bond does not significantly change its length during the reaction) that the reagent and product segments of the minimum energy path are coplanar. This means that a natural partitioning of the reaction dynamics exists in which motions parallel to this plane tend to be active in promoting the reaction whereas motions perpendicular tend to be inactive. A study of trajectory motions and product state energy partitioning for O + CS₂ confirms this.     

Pac investigations of In/Sb interfaces

The PAC method was applied to study interface compound formation in thin In/Sb film couples. Above annealing temperatures of 220 K, kept for 10 min, the compound InSb is growing out of the interface. The average thickness of InSb increases with the square root of time at the beginning, indicating a diffusion controlled start of interface compound growth.     

Correlating the crystal structure of a thiol-protected Au25 cluster and optical properties

The total structure determination of thiol-protected Au clusters has long been a major issue in cluster research. Herein, we report an unusual single crystal structure of a 25-gold-atom cluster (1.27 nm diameter, surface-to-surface distance) protected by eighteen phenylethanethiol ligands. The Au25 cluster features a centered icosahedral Au13 core capped by twelve gold atoms that are situated in six pairs around the three mutually perpendicular 2-fold axes of the icosahedron. The thiolate ligands bind to the Au25 core in an exclusive bridging mode. This highly symmetric structure is distinctly different from recent predictions of density functional theory, and it also violates the empirical golden rule "cluster of clusters", which would predict a biicosahedral structure via vertex sharing of two icosahedral M13 building blocks as previously established in various 25-atom metal clusters protected by phosphine ligands. These results point to the importance of the ligand-gold core interactions. The Au25(SR)18 clusters exhibit multiple molecular-like absorption bands, and we find the results are in good correspondence with time-dependent density functional theory calculations for the observed structure.     

Reversible pH-triggered encapsulation and release of pyrene by adsorbed block copolymer micelles

The well-established ability of copolymer micelles to encapsulate and release hydrophobic molecules has been investigated following their adsorption onto silica particles. Here, a pH-responsive copolymer, poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate)- b-poly(2-(diethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMA(106)- b-PDEA(25)), has been used to study the formation and dissociation of adsorbed micelles through pH variation. This copolymer behaves as free unimers in aqueous solutions below pH 8 and forms micelles 29 nm in hydrodynamic diameter above this pH. Encapsulation and release of a model hydrophobic compound (pyrene) by in situ adjustment of the solution pH has been compared for both free and adsorbed micelles using fluorescence spectrophotometry, epifluorescence microscopy, and zeta potential measurements. At basic pH values, pyrene is solubilized within the cores of micelles adsorbed on silica particles: addition of acid leads to micelle dissociation and release of the pyrene into the bulk aqueous solution. Micelle adsorption does not appear to hinder the extent of pyrene uptake/release. Moreover, this pH-responsive behavior is both reversible and reproducible over multiple pH cycles.     

Whispering-gallery mode resonators: Surface enhanced Raman scattering without plasmons

Calculations based on the Mie theory are performed to determine the locally enhanced electric fields due to whispering-gallery mode resonances for dielectric microspheres, with emphasis on electromagnetic "hot spots" that are located along the wavevector direction on the surface of the sphere. The local electric field enhancement associated with these hot spots is used to determine the surface enhanced Raman scattering enhancement factors for a molecule, here treated as a classical dipole, located near the surface of the sphere. Both incident and Raman emission enhancements are calculated accurately using an extension of the Mie theory that includes interaction of the Raman dipole field with the sphere. The enhancement factors are calculated for dielectric spheres in vacuum with a refractive index of 1.9 and radii of 5, 10, and 20 microm and for wavelengths that span the visible spectrum. Maximum Raman scattering enhancement factors on the order of 10(3)-10(4) are found at locations slightly off the propagation axis when the incident excitation but not the Stokes-shifted radiation is coincident with a whispering-gallery mode resonance. The enhancement factors are found to vary inversely with the resonance width, and this determines the influence of the mode number and order on the results. Additional calculations are performed for the case where the Stokes-shifted radiation is also on-resonance and Raman enhancement factors as large as 10(8) are found. These enhancement factors are typically a factor of 10(2) smaller than would be obtained from /E/4 enhancement estimates, as enhancement of the Raman dipole emission is significantly reduced compared to the local field enhancement for micron size particles or larger. Conditions under which single-molecule or few-molecule measurements are feasible are identified.     

Interaction of plasmon and molecular resonances for rhodamine 6G adsorbed on silver nanoparticles

Localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) is a key optical property of metallic nanoparticles. The peak position of the LSPR for noble-metal nanoparticles is highly dependent upon the refractive index of the surrounding media and has therefore been used for chemical and biological sensing. In this work, we explore the influence of resonant adsorbates on the LSPR of bare Ag nanoparticles (lambda(max,bare)). Specifically, we study the effect of rhodamine 6G (R6G) adsorption on the nanoparticle plasmon resonance because of its importance in single-molecule surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SMSERS). Understanding the coupling between the R6G molecular resonances and the nanoparticle plasmon resonances will provide further insights into the role of LSPR and molecular resonance in SMSERS. By tuning lambda(max,bare) through the visible wavelength region, the wavelength-dependent LSPR response of the Ag nanoparticles to R6G binding was monitored. Furthermore, the electronic transitions of R6G on Ag surface were studied by measuring the surface absorption spectrum of R6G on an Ag film. Surprisingly, three LSPR shift maxima are found, whereas the R6G absorption spectrum shows only two absorption features. Deconvolution of the R6G surface absorption spectra at different R6G concentrations indicates that R6G forms dimers on the metal surface. An electromagnetic model based on quasi-static (Gans) theory reveals that the LSPR shift features are associated with the absorption of R6G monomer and dimers. Electronic structure calculations of R6G under various conditions were performed to study the origin of the LSPR shift features. These calculations support the view that the R6G dimer formation is the most plausible cause for the complicated LSPR response. These findings show the extreme sensitivity of LSPR in elucidating the detailed electronic structure of a resonant adsorbate.     

Resonance vibrational Raman optical activity: a time-dependent density functional theory approach

We present a method to calculate both on- and off-resonance vibrational Raman optical activities (VROAs) of molecules using time-dependent density functional theory. This is an extension of a method to calculate the normal VROA by including a finite lifetime of the electronic excited states in all calculated properties. The method is based on a short-time approximation to Raman scattering and is, in the off-resonance case, identical to the standard theory of Placzek. The normal and resonance VROA spectra are calculated from geometric derivatives of the different generalized polarizabilites obtained using linear response theory which includes a damping term to account for the finite lifetime. Gauge-origin independent results for normal VROA have been ensured using either the modified-velocity gauge or gauge-included atomic orbitals. For the resonance VROA only the modified-velocity gauge has been implemented. We present some initial results for H(2)O(2) and (S)-methyloxirane and compare with predictions from a simple two-state approximation.     

Selective sensing of citrate by a supramolecular 1,8-naphthalimide/calix[4]arene assembly via complexation-modulated pKa shifts in a ternary complex

A water-soluble supramolecular sensing assembly, composed of an imidazolium-substituted calix[4]arene and a fluorescent aminodiacetate derivative of 1,8-naphthalimide, was studied. Addition of citrate led to a large fluorescence enhancement, while tartrate, acetate, as well as selected inorganic anions gave smaller effects. The sensing principle and selectivity for citrate rely on the formation of a ternary fluorophore-host-anion complex and complexation-induced pKa shifts of an amino group attached to the fluorophore. The complexation of citrate induces a protonation of the amino group, which switches off intramolecular photoinduced electron transfer as the fluorescence quenching pathway, leading to an enhancement of the optical output signal. The intricate sensor principle was corroborated by pH titrations, binding constants, and structural information as obtained by 1H NMR spectroscopy.