Centers and Institutes
Published January 25, 2024 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Tracking Cavity Formation in Electron Solvation: Insights from X-ray Spectroscopy and Theory

Creators

  • 1. Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron
  • 2. Argonne National Laboratory
  • 3. University of Chicago
  • 4. Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
  • 5. Uppsala University
  • 6. Sorbonne Université
  • 7. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
  • 8. Nanyang Technological University
  • 9. Universität Hamburg

Description

We present time-resolved X-ray absorption spectra of ionized liquid water and demonstrate that OH radicals, H3O ions, and solvated electrons all leave distinct X-ray-spectroscopic signatures. Particularly, this allows us to characterize the electron solvation process through a tool that focuses on the electronic response of oxygen atoms in the immediate vicinity of a solvated electron. Our experimental results, supported by ab initio calculations, confirm the formation of a cavity in which the solvated electron is trapped. We show that the solvation dynamics are governed by the magnitude of the random structural fluctuations present in water. As a consequence, the solvation time is highly sensitive to temperature and to the specific way the electron is injected into water.

Files

sopena-moros-et-al-2024-tracking-cavity-formation-in-electron-solvation-insights-from-x-ray-spectroscopy-and-theory.pdf

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Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1021/jacs.3c11857
Other
oai:uchicago.tind.io:13378

Funding

Ministry of Education
RG1/20
Ministry of Education
RG1/22
Ministry of Education
MOE-T2EP50221-0004
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
EXC 2056 - project ID 390715994
Swedish Research Council
2021-04017
United States Department of Energy
DE-AC02-76SF00515
United States Department of Energy
DE-AC02-06CH11357

UChicago Information

Division(s)
Physical Sciences Division
Department(s)
Physics
Center(s) or Institute(s)
James Franck Institute