The photoionization of oxidized metal clusters

Abstract

Oxidized metal clusters (NaxO and KxO for 2≤x≤4) were formed in a gas phase reaction between metal clusters and an oxidizing gas using a double expansion technique. Their appearance potentials were measured using a molecular beam-photoionization mass spectrometer system. These first photoionization data for oxidized clusters provide information on trends of ionization potentials as a function of the degree of aggregation. The ionization potentials do not differ greatly from the analogous metallic species, but in the case of the sodium tetramer the value does fall below that of the bare metal cluster. This finding is in accord with what has been observed as an influence of impurities on the work function of the bulk sodium. The results are also of interest concerning questions of octet rule violations and hypervalency.

Reactive scattering of sodium clusters with molecular oxygen

“…We have chosen to use the calculated values from Spiegelmann and co-workers [16] as a consistent set of data. Experimental values for the NanO and NanO 2 products are known only for the smallest complexes [8,9]. Only few theoretical calculations are available.…”

“…Hydrogenation of transition metal clusters (e.g. Fen, Nix, Co~) has been studied in flow reactors [5][6][7] and reactions of sodium clusters with 02 and C12 using similar methods have been reported [8,9]. The interpretation of these measurements involves a good knowledge of the thermodynamical properties of the source which may involve uncertainties making a quantitative analysis of these experiments difficult.…”

Reaction Kinetics of Meteoric Sodium Reservoirs in the Upper Atmosphere

“…This expression was fitted to the experimental data in Fig. 10a by floating the rate constant k 6 and fixing the value of k 7 to the literature value, which is essentially in agreement with the determination in this work (section because the data are generally noisier than for S 23 (these experiments were run at lower oven temperatures, ~ 620 K), although the analysis of S 39 yielded the same decay rates are within error. Numerical simulations considering R6, R7 and the diffusional losses of Na and NaO were carried out to estimate the uncertainty which arises from using E7 with the assumption that Na and NaO have the same diffusion coefficient.…”

“…An important drawback of spectroscopic and chemical conversion techniques is that these target a single species at a time. Multiplexed observation of sodium oxides and hydroxides using mass spectrometry has been reported previously at high temperatures, in vaporisation, pick-up and crossed molecular beam arrangements, mainly in the context of thermochemical analysis and molecular electronic structure studies, [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] but the observation of sodium compound kinetics at thermal energies has remained elusive for mass spectrometric techniques.…”

Inside a Superatom: The M7q (M=Cu, Ag, q=1+, 0, 1−) Case

“…[11,12] These nanoscale atoms must retain their atomlike behavior and identity, even in conjunction with other clusters or ligands. A few well-know examples are Al 13, [13,14] X 3 O (X= Li, Na, K), [15][16][17] AlPb 10 + , and AlPb 12 + [18] among others. [19,20] In particular, the paramagnetism of the Cu 7 and Ag 7 clusters is desirable for designing and obtaining tunable magnetic properties that could lead to novel nanoscale optoelectronics as well as miniature spintronics and storage devices.…”