Event Title
What a Coincidence!
Location
Biology Building, Room 101
Start Date
6-9-2018 6:00 PM
End Date
6-9-2018 7:00 PM
Description
Photoelectron photoion coincidence (PEPICO) spectroscopy is a combination of photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) and mass spectrometry (MS). A high-energy photon kicks out an electron from a molecule in the gas phase and both the resulting electron and the positive ion are captured, in delayed coincidence. With this technique, we can put a well-defined amount of energy into the ion and measure how it is falling apart, learning about the strength of its chemical bonds and measure highly accurate energetics for a wide variety of key species or reactions, including the proton affinity of the water molecule.
This technique can also be used to study the chemical reactions of very reactive, elusive intermediates. Recently, we have shown that PEPICO spectroscopy offers a much more detailed molecular fingerprint than mass spectrometry, making it suitable for analyzing gaseous mixtures of many components. With our prototype experiment in Switzerland and with a new Sandia National Lab apparatus for the Advanced Light Source synchrotron in Berkeley, reactions of unstable intermediate species, relevant in combustion, atmospheric, or interstellar environments are studied.
What a Coincidence!
Biology Building, Room 101
Photoelectron photoion coincidence (PEPICO) spectroscopy is a combination of photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) and mass spectrometry (MS). A high-energy photon kicks out an electron from a molecule in the gas phase and both the resulting electron and the positive ion are captured, in delayed coincidence. With this technique, we can put a well-defined amount of energy into the ion and measure how it is falling apart, learning about the strength of its chemical bonds and measure highly accurate energetics for a wide variety of key species or reactions, including the proton affinity of the water molecule.
This technique can also be used to study the chemical reactions of very reactive, elusive intermediates. Recently, we have shown that PEPICO spectroscopy offers a much more detailed molecular fingerprint than mass spectrometry, making it suitable for analyzing gaseous mixtures of many components. With our prototype experiment in Switzerland and with a new Sandia National Lab apparatus for the Advanced Light Source synchrotron in Berkeley, reactions of unstable intermediate species, relevant in combustion, atmospheric, or interstellar environments are studied.
Speaker Bio
Professor Sztáray received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Chemistry at Eötvös Loránd University, the leading research university in Hungary. After a post-doctoral scholarship at UNC Chapel Hill, he was appointed Assistant Professor at his alma mater. In 2008, he joined Pacific as Associate Professor in Chemistry and was promoted to Full Professor in 2016. Since 2014, he has been serving as the founding Director of the Freshman Honors Program and he is the current Faculty Athletic Representative. Prof. Sztáray has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles since coming to Pacific and his research area is in gas-phase physical chemistry/chemical physics; using photoion-ization methods to study the energetics and dissociation mechanisms of small molecules and reactive intermediates.