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De S, Abid AR, Asmussen JD, Ben Ltaief L, Sishodia K, Ulmer A, Pedersen HB, Krishnan SR, Mudrich M. Fragmentation of water clusters formed in helium nanodroplets by charge transfer and Penning ionization. J Chem Phys 2024; 160:094308. [PMID: 38445733 DOI: 10.1063/5.0194098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Helium nanodroplets ("HNDs") are widely used for forming tailor-made clusters and molecular complexes in a cold, transparent, and weakly interacting matrix. The characterization of embedded species by mass spectrometry is often complicated by the fragmentation and trapping of ions in the HNDs. Here, we systematically study fragment ion mass spectra of HND-aggregated water and oxygen clusters following their ionization by charge transfer ionization ("CTI") and Penning ionization ("PEI"). While the efficiency of PEI of embedded clusters is lower than for CTI by about factor 10, both the mean sizes of detected water clusters and the relative yields of unprotonated cluster ions are significantly larger, making PEI a "soft ionization" scheme. However, the tendency of ions to remain bound to HNDs leads to a reduced detection efficiency for large HNDs containing >104 helium atoms. These results are instrumental in determining optimal conditions for mass spectrometry and photoionization spectroscopy of molecular complexes and clusters aggregated in HNDs.
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Affiliation(s)
- S De
- Quantum Center of Excellence for Diamond and Emergent Materials and Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
| | - A R Abid
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - J D Asmussen
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - L Ben Ltaief
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - K Sishodia
- Quantum Center of Excellence for Diamond and Emergent Materials and Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
| | - A Ulmer
- Department of Physics, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg, Germany
| | - H B Pedersen
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - S R Krishnan
- Quantum Center of Excellence for Diamond and Emergent Materials and Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India
| | - M Mudrich
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
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2
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Mészáros D, Matejčík Š, Papp P. Formation of negative ions from cobalt tricarbonyl nitrosyl Co(CO) 3NO clusters. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:7522-7533. [PMID: 38357994 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp05601e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
Electron attachment and corresponding dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to cobalt tricarbonyl nitrosyl (Co(CO)3NO) clusters have been studied by co-expansion with Ar gas into a high vacuum. A monochromatic electron beam was utilized to generate negative ions and the resulting reaction products were identified using mass spectrometry. The ion fragments corresponding to Co(CO)3NO monomers closely resemble results from earlier gas phase experiments and studies conducted on Co(CO)3NO in He nanodroplets. However, contrary to the gas phase or He nanodroplet ion yields, a resonance structure comprising several peaks at energies above ∼4 eV was observed both in the case of molecular clusters [Co(CO)3NO]n- (with n = 1, 2, 3) and clusters comprising DEA fragments. Additionally, the ion yields of numerous other clusters such as ions without nitrosyl ([Co(CO)4]-, [Co2(CO)5]-), clusters consisting of two fragments such as ([Co2(CO)NO]-, [Co2(CO)(NO)2]-, [Co2(CO)2NO]-, [Co2(CO)2(NO)2]-, [Co3(CO)(NO)3]-, [Co3(CO)8(NO)3]-, [Co3(CO)(NO)2]-, [Co3(CO)3(NO)2]-, and [Co3(CO)5(NO)2]-) were recorded. Moreover, NO bond dissociation was confirmed with the [Co(CO)2N]-ion and with N- or O-retaining cluster ions, such as [Co2(CO)(NO)N]-, [Co2(CO)2(NO)N]-, [Co3(CO)2(NO)N]-, [Co3(CO)3(NO)N]- and [Co3(CO)(NO)2N]-, or [Co2(CO)2O]-, [Co2(CO)3O]-, [Co3(CO)3O]-, [Co3(CO)4O]-and [Co3(CO)2(NO)O]- respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dušan Mészáros
- Department of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina F2, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovakia.
| | - Štefan Matejčík
- Department of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina F2, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovakia.
| | - Peter Papp
- Department of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina F2, 842 48 Bratislava, Slovakia.
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3
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Reider AM, Mayerhofer J, Martini P, Scheier P, Lushchikova OV. Mixed Cluster Ions of Magnesium and C 60. J Phys Chem A 2024; 128:848-857. [PMID: 38272839 PMCID: PMC10860146 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.3c06902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 01/13/2024] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Magnesium clusters exhibit a pronounced nonmetal-to-metal transition, and the neutral dimer is exceptionally weakly bound. In the present study, we formed pristine Mgnz+ (n = 1-100, z = 1-3) clusters and mixed (C60)mMgnz+ clusters (m = 1-7, z = 1, 2) upon electron irradiation of neutral helium nanodroplets doped with magnesium or a combination of C60 and magnesium. The mass spectra obtained for pristine magnesium cluster ions exhibit anomalies, consistent with previous reports in the literature. The anomalies observed for C60Mgn+ strongly suggest that Mg atoms tend to wet the surface of the single fullerene positioning itself above the center of a pentagonal or hexagonal face, while, for (C60)mMgnz+, the preference for Mg to position itself within the dimples formed by fullerene cages becomes apparent. Besides doubly charged cluster ions, with the smallest member Mg22+, we also observed the formation of triply charged ions Mgn3+ with n > 24. The ion efficiency curves of singly and multiply charged ions exhibit pronounced differences compared to singly charged ions at higher electron energies. These findings indicate that sequential Penning ionization is essential in the formation of doubly and triply charged ions inside doped helium nanodroplets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Maria Reider
- Institut
für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Jan Mayerhofer
- Institut
für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Paul Martini
- Institut
für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
- Department
of Physics, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Paul Scheier
- Institut
für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Olga V. Lushchikova
- Institut
für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
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4
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Mitrushchenkov AO, Pilar de Lara-Castells M. High-level ab initio evidence of bipyramidal Cu 5 clusters as fluxional Jahn-Teller molecules. Chemphyschem 2023; 24:e202300317. [PMID: 37442814 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202300317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2023] [Revised: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023]
Abstract
Novel highly selective synthesis techniques have enable the production of atomically precise monodisperse metal clusters (AMCs) of subnanometer size. These AMCs exhibit 'molecule-like' structures that have distinct physical and chemical properties, significantly different from those of nanoparticles and bulk material. In this work, we study copper pentamer Cu5 clusters as model AMCs by applying both density functional theory (DFT) and high-level (wave-function-based) ab initio methods, including those which are capable of accounting for the multi-state multi-reference character of the wavefunction at the conical intersection (CI) between different electronic states and augmenting the electronic basis set till achieving well-converged energy values and structures. After assessing the accuracy of a high-level multi-multireference ab initio protocol for the well-known Cu3 case, we apply it to demonstrate that bypiramidal Cu5 clusters are distorted Jahn-Teller (JT) molecules. The method is further used to evaluate the accuracy of single-reference approaches, finding that the coupled cluster singles and doubles and perturbative triples CCSD(T) method delivers the results closer to our ab initio predictions and that dispersion-corrected DFT can outperform the CCSD method. Finally, we discuss how JT effects and, more generally, conical intersections, are intimately connected to the fluxionality of AMCs, giving them a 'floppy' character that ultimately facilitates their interaction with environmental molecules and thus enhances their functioning as catalysts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander O Mitrushchenkov
- Université Paris-Est, Laboratoire de Modélisation et Simulation Multi Echelle UMR 8208 CNRS, Univ Gustave Eiffel, 5 Bd Descartes, 77454, Marne la Vallée, Cedex 2, France
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5
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Lushchikova OV, Reichegger J, Kollotzek S, Zappa F, Mahmoodi-Darian M, Bartolomei M, Campos-Martínez J, González-Lezana T, Pirani F, Scheier P. Solvation of cationic copper clusters in molecular hydrogen. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:25251-25263. [PMID: 37700714 PMCID: PMC10528801 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp03452f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/14/2023]
Abstract
Multiply charged superfluid helium nanodroplets are utilized to facilitate the growth of cationic copper clusters (Cun+, where n = 1-8) that are subsequently solvated with up to 50 H2 molecules. Production of both pristine and protonated cationic Cu clusters are detected mass spectrometrically. A joint effort between experiment and theory allows us to understand the nature of the interactions determining the bonding between pristine and protonated Cu+ and Cu2+ cations and molecular hydrogen. The analysis reveals that in all investigated cationic clusters, the primary solvation shell predominantly exhibits a covalent bonding character, which gradually decreases in strength, while for the subsequent shells an exclusive non-covalent behaviour is found. Interestingly, the calculated evaporation energies associated with the first solvation shell markedly surpass thermal values, positioning them within the desirable range for hydrogen storage applications. This comprehensive study not only provides insights into the solvation of pristine and protonated cationic Cu clusters but also sheds light on their unique bonding properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- O V Lushchikova
- Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25, Innsbruck 6020, Austria.
| | - J Reichegger
- Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25, Innsbruck 6020, Austria.
| | - S Kollotzek
- Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25, Innsbruck 6020, Austria.
| | - F Zappa
- Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25, Innsbruck 6020, Austria.
| | - M Mahmoodi-Darian
- Department of Physics, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran
| | - M Bartolomei
- Instituto de Física Fundamental, IFF-CSIC, Serrano 123, Madrid 28006, Spain.
| | - J Campos-Martínez
- Instituto de Física Fundamental, IFF-CSIC, Serrano 123, Madrid 28006, Spain.
| | - T González-Lezana
- Instituto de Física Fundamental, IFF-CSIC, Serrano 123, Madrid 28006, Spain.
| | - F Pirani
- Dipartimento di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, Universita' di Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - P Scheier
- Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstraße 25, Innsbruck 6020, Austria.
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Fernández B, Pi M, de Lara-Castells MP. Superfluid helium droplet-mediated surface-deposition of neutral and charged silver atomic species. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023. [PMID: 37317779 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp01303k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Experimental and theoretical work has delivered evidence of the helium nanodroplet-mediated synthesis and soft-landing of metal nanoparticles, nanowires, clusters, and single atoms on solid supports. Recent experimental advances have allowed the formation of charged metal clusters into multiply charged helium nanodroplets. The impact of the charge of immersed metal species in helium nanodroplet-mediated surface deposition is proved by considering silver atoms and cations at zero-temperature graphene as the support. By combining high-level ab initio intermolecular interaction theory with a full quantum description of the superfluid helium nanodroplet motion, evidence is presented that the fundamental mechanism of soft-deposition is preserved in spite of the much stronger interaction of charged species with surfaces, with high-density fluctuations in the helium droplet playing an essential role in braking them. Corroboration is also presented that the soft-landing becomes favored as the helium nanodroplet size increases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Berta Fernández
- Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Santiago de Compostela, E-15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Martí Pi
- Departament FQA, Facultat de Física, Universitat de Barcelona, Diagonal 645, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB), Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
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7
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Bergmeister S, Ganner L, Locher J, Zappa F, Scheier P, Gruber E. Spectroscopy of helium-tagged molecular ions-Development of a novel experimental setup. THE REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 2023; 94:055105. [PMID: 37191466 DOI: 10.1063/5.0144239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
In this contribution, we present an efficient and alternative method to the commonly used RF-multipole trap technique to produce He-tagged molecular ions at cryogenic temperatures, which are perfectly suitable for messenger spectroscopy. The seeding of dopant ions in multiply charged helium nanodroplets, in combination with a gentle extraction of the latter from the helium matrix, enables the efficient production of He-tagged ion species. With a quadrupole mass filter, a specific ion of interest is selected, merged with a laser beam, and the photoproducts are measured in a time-of-flight mass-spectrometer. The detection of the photofragment signal from a basically zero background is much more sensitive than the depletion of the same amount of signal from precursor ions, delivering high quality spectra at reduced data acquisition times. Proof-of-principle measurements of bare and He-tagged Ar-cluster ions, as well as of He-tagged C60 ions, are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Bergmeister
- Institute for Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Lisa Ganner
- Institute for Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Johannes Locher
- Institute for Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Fabio Zappa
- Institute for Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Paul Scheier
- Institute for Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Elisabeth Gruber
- Institute for Ion Physics and Applied Physics, University of Innsbruck, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
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8
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Lushchikova OV, Gatchell M, Reichegger J, Kollotzek S, Zappa F, Mahmoodi-Darian M, Scheier P. Structure and formation of copper cluster ions in multiply charged He nanodroplets. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:8463-8471. [PMID: 36916872 PMCID: PMC10032196 DOI: 10.1039/d2cp04569a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
The structure of cationic and anionic Cu clusters grown in multiply charged superfluid He nanodroplets was investigated using He tagging as a chemical probe. Further, the structure assignment was done based on the magic-numbered ions, representing the most energetically favorable structures. The exact geometry of the cluster and positions of He is verified by calculations. It was found that the structure of the clusters grown in the He droplets is similar to that produced with a laser ablation source and the lowest energy structures predicted by theoretical investigations. The only difference is the structure of the Cu5+, which in our experiments has a twisted-X geometry, rather than a bipyramid or planar half-wheel geometry suggested by previous studies. This might be attributed to the different cluster formation mechanisms, the absence of the Ar-tag and the ultracold environment. It was also found that He tends to bind to partially more electro-negative or positive areas of the anionic or cationic clusters, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- O V Lushchikova
- Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - M Gatchell
- Department of Physics, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - J Reichegger
- Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - S Kollotzek
- Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - F Zappa
- Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
| | - M Mahmoodi-Darian
- Department of Physics, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran
| | - P Scheier
- Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
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Sala L, Luxford TFM, Ranković M, Kočišek J. Viewpoints on the 11th International Meeting on Atomic and Molecular Physics and Chemistry. J Phys Chem A 2022; 126:8557-8561. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.2c07768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Leo Sala
- J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry v.v.i., The Czech Academy of Sciences, Dolejškova 3, 18223Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Thomas F. M. Luxford
- J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry v.v.i., The Czech Academy of Sciences, Dolejškova 3, 18223Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Miloš Ranković
- J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry v.v.i., The Czech Academy of Sciences, Dolejškova 3, 18223Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jaroslav Kočišek
- J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry v.v.i., The Czech Academy of Sciences, Dolejškova 3, 18223Prague, Czech Republic
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Kwan V, Consta S. Conical Shape Fluctuations Determine the Rate of Ion Evaporation and the Emitted Cluster Size Distribution from Multicharged Droplets. J Phys Chem A 2022; 126:3229-3238. [PMID: 35549274 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.2c02056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The ion evaporation mechanism (IEM) is perceived to be a major pathway for disintegration of multi-ion charged droplets found in atmospheric and sprayed aerosols. However, the precise mechanism of IEM and the effect of the nature of the ions in the emitted cluster size distribution have not yet been established despite its broad use in mass spectrometry and atmospheric chemistry over the past half century. Here, we present a systematic study of the emitted ion cluster distribution in relation to their spatial distribution in the parent droplet using atomistic modeling. It is found that in the parent droplet, multiple kosmotropic and weakly polarizable chaotropic ions (Cs+) are buried deeper within the droplet than polarizable chaotropic ions (Cl-, I-). This differentiation in the ion location is only captured by a polarizable model. It is demonstrated that the emitted cluster size distribution is determined by dynamic conical deformations and not by the equilibrium ion depth within the parent droplet as the IEM models assume. Critical factors that determine the cluster size distribution such as the charge sign asymmetry that have not been considered in models and in experiments are presented. We argue that the existing IEM analytical models do not establish a clear difference between IEM and Rayleigh fission. We propose a shift in the existing view for IEM from the equilibrium properties of the parent droplet to the chemistry in the conical shape fluctuations that serve as the centers for ion emission. Consequently, chemistry in the conical fluctuations may also be a key element to explain charge states of macromolecules in mass spectrometry and may have potential applications in catalysis due to the electric field in the conical region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Kwan
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada
| | - Styliani Consta
- Department of Chemistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B7, Canada
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