| Chemistry |
 |
|
By one estimate, nearly 80% of all chemical reactions in nature and in human technology take place at boundaries between phases, i.e., at surfaces or interfaces. Atomic- and molecular-scale studies are needed to develop a thorough understanding of the relationships between surface properties and parameters relevant to potential applications and devices. Catalysts play a central role in processes relevant to energy, the environment, and biology. Researchers are working to develop cheaper and smarter catalysts that are fine tuned to accelerate reactions that, for example, drive fuel-refinement, sweep toxins from emissions, or convert starch to sugar. Predictive models of combustion and atmospheric chemistry rely on the field of chemical dynamics to understand gas-phase chemical processes. At the ALS, dedicated, intense, tunable vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) light is combined with state-of-the-art molecular-beam machines for a broad range of studies of fundamental chemical processes. A revolution in material-synthesis techniques is driving the need for solving the structures of small-molecule systems with small crystal sizes. The ALS provides the intense x-ray radiation necessary for studies of crystals that, because they are extremely small or weakly diffracting, would be difficult or impossible to study on standard laboratory systems. In addition to the above, many ALS physical chemistry experiments aim to develop a fundamental understanding—at the molecular, atomic, and electronic level—of how chemical properties such as bonding and electronic state affect behavior and how chemical reactions occur.
Surfaces/Interfaces, Catalysts, Chemical Dynamics, Crystallography, Physical Chemistry Platinum Nanoclusters Out-Perform Single Crystals Compositional Variation Within Hybrid Nanostructures Looking at Transistor Gate Oxide Formation in Real Time Formation of Metallic Copper Nanoparticles at the Soil-Root Interface Diamondoid Monolayers as Monochromatic Electron Source Breakthrough Research on Platinum–Nickel Alloys Hydrogen Storage in Carbon Nanotubes Through Formation of C-H Bonds Platinum Nanoclusters Out-Perform Single Crystals Compositional Variation Within Hybrid Nanostructures Reaction-Driven Restructuring of Bimetallic Nanoparticle Catalysts Nanoscale Chemical Imaging of a Working Catalyst Breakthrough Research on Platinum–Nickel Alloys Direct Kinetic Measurements of a Criegee Intermediate Experimental Test of Self-Shielding in VUV Photodissociation of CO Enol Intermediates Unexpectedly Found in Flames The Surprising Appearance of Nanotubular Fullerene D5h(1)-C90 Solving the Unsovlable: The Nanostructure of Gold at 1.1 Å Resolution Real-Time Chemical Imaging of Bacterial Biofilm Development Biomimetic Dye Molecules for Solar Cells Hybrid Rotaxanes: Interlocked Structures for Quantum Computing? Preservation of Fe(II) by Carbon-Rich Matrices in Hydrothermal Plumes Isotope and Temperature Effects in Liquid Water Probed by Soft X Rays Electronic Structure of Cobalt Nanocrystals Suspended in Liquid The Iron Spin Transition in the Earth's Lower Mantle Extracellular Proteins Promote Zinc Sulfide Aggregation Particles from Comet 81P/Wild 2 Viewed by ALS Microscopes Mapping the Nanoscale Landscape Time-Resolved Study of Bonding in Liquid Carbon Composition and Reactions of Atmospheric Aerosol Particles Energetics of Hydrogen Bond Network Rearrangements in Liquid Water |
