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The solvation of alkali and halide ions in the aqueous environment has been a subject of intense experimental and theoretical research with multidisciplinary interests; yet, a comprehensive molecular-level understanding has still not been obtained. In recent years, electron spectroscopy has been increasingly applied to study the electronic and structural properties of aqueous ions with implications, especially in atmospheric chemistry. In this work, we report core and valence level (Cl 2p, Cl 3p, and K 3p) photoelectron spectra of the common alkali halide, KCl, doped in gas-phase water clusters in the size range of a few hundred water molecules. The results indicate that the electronic structure of these nanosolutions shows a distinct character from that observed at the liquid–vapor interface in liquid microjets and ambient pressure setups. Insights are provided into the unique solvation properties of ions in a nanoaqueous environment, emerging properties of bulk electrolyte solutions with growing cluster size, and sensitivity of the electronic structure to varying solvation configurations.

Charge transfer processes between weakly bound entities play an important role in various chemical and biological environments. In this combined experimental and theoretical work, we investigate the nature of charge-transfer processes in homogeneous atomic and heterogeneous atomic-molecular clusters. Our results reveal fundamentally different processes to be at play in pure argon clusters compared to mixed argon-nitrogen systems: We demonstrate that the former species decay via photon-mediated charge transfer while a nonradiative direct process is found dominant in the atomic-molecular cases. Our results are of general interest for studies on charge redistribution in more complex and biologically relevant samples where molecules are involved.

Electronic excitations in the valence shell of Ne clusters were studied by fluorescence spectroscopy. The measured fluorescence excitation functions contain information about the nature and number of excitonic states and the mean cluster size of the produced size distribution. Mean cluster sizes were determined by comparing surface and bulk contributions using a multidimensional fitting algorithm, with good agreement to commonly used scaling laws. The influence of different size distributions, which were not considered in previous investigations, on homogeneous noble gas cluster jets is implemented in the proposed model. The present work is the first approach using fluorescence spectroscopy for the determination of the mean size of Ne cluster jets created by supersonic expansion.

Physical review / X 10(4), 041056 (2020). doi:10.1103/PhysRevX.10.041056, The nature of transient electronic states created by photoabsorption critically determines the dynamics of the subsequently evolving system. Here, we investigate K-shell photoionized atomic neon by absorbing a second photon within the Auger-decay lifetime of 2.4 fs using the European XFEL, a unique high-repetition-rate, wavelength-tunable x-ray free-electron laser. By high-resolution electron spectroscopy, we map out the transient Rydberg resonances unraveling the details of the subsequent decay of the hollow atom. So far, ultra-short-lived electronic transients, which are often inaccessible by experiments, were mainly inferred from theory but are now addressed by nonlinear x-ray absorption. The successful characterization of these resonances with femtosecond lifetimes provides the basis for a novel class of site-specific, nonlinear, and time-resolved studies with strong impact for a wide range of topics in physics and chemistry., Published by APS, College Park, Md.

Synopsis Results from the first soft X-ray user experiment at the European XFEL on nonlinear photon-matter interaction will be presented. Angle-resolved electron time-of-flight spectroscopy employed at the AQS (Atom-ic-like Quantum Systems) endstation of the SQS (Small Quantum Systems) instrument reveals insight into the character of resonances in highly transient, core ionized neon ions, i.e. Ne+ 1s12s22p6 → Ne+* 1s02s22p6np, together with their respective relaxation dynamics. Enabled by the unique properties of the European XFEL, novel perspectives on efficient nonlinear spectroscopy will be discussed.

Polyvinylene carbonate is a linear polymer which can be dissolved with saponification in cold alkali. After precipitation the resultant amorphous polyvinylene glycol can only be dissolved in fused urea. Vinylene carbonate (M1)–vinyl acetate (M2) copolymers are higher melting than polyvinylacetate, and at 55° the reactivity ratios are r1 = 0.0579, r2 = 3.71. Expressions are derived relating periodate consumption and formic acid formation by hydrolyzed vinylene carbonate copolymers to the number-average sequence lengths predicted by copolymerization theory. Periodate consumption by the homopolymer and copolymers is complicated by the overoxidation of the intermediate malondialdehyde to carbon dioxide. When this side reaction is taken into account, periodate consumption and formic acid liberation are in reasonably good semi-quantitative agreement with theoretical predications of number-average sequence length.