Chemical Physics Seminar

Hybrid systems in interaction with radiation are ubiquitous in nature and material science. The first system to be discussed in the talk is the water-air interface interacting with photons.

Since the discovery of the hydrated electron in bulk water in 1962, the species has been the subject of intense research and speculation. For many decades even the basic features of the simplest of all chemical and biological transients and reactants — such as its structure, binding motifs, lifetimes, and binding energies — remained elusive. Recently, another milestone in the research of the hydrated electron was the determination of its vertical binding energy (VBE). Also a long-lived hydrated electron near the surface of liquid water has been discovered. The present contribution discusses the implications and consequences of this and other new findings in addition to the emerging complex picture of a solvated electron in water.

Another aqueous hybrid system in interaction with high energy electrons are cryo-gels that polymerize under electron beam irradiation yielding novel bio-compatible functionalized porous materials that can contain active biomolecules such as enzymes or that can host living cells. The synthesis and features of porous systems based upon polymerized cryogels will be highlighted and discussed.