MIFT

Research on isolated clusters in the gas-phase, serving as model systems to mimic the active sites of bulk surfaces, has provided a wealth of information on fundamental photochemical reaction dynamics. Clusters are attractive research venues because they are known to exhibit distinct structural and electronic property, magnetic and catalytic behavior, and chemical reactivity that all change with the addition/subtraction of a single atom. Thus, it has been proposed that clusters can be utilized as building blocks for the bottom-up assembly of new materials that could exhibit the tunable chemical and physical properties that are retained from the individual clusters. However, progress on the development of new cluster assembled materials that capitalize on these unique properties has been very limited and has suffered from a paucity of information related to the cluster/surface and cluster/cluster interactions. Significant improvement in the fabrication of new materials, containing tunable properties that originate from the quantum confinement in clusters, requires novel experimental techniques that can selectively probe surface interactions and therefore deliver a fundamental understanding of the molecular and electronic charge transfer mechanisms that drive surface-mediated catalysis and heterogeneous chemistry.

Team