Helium is unique amongst the chemical substances in that it remains liquid down to the lowest possible temperatures. Upon cooling to below 2.2 K helium becomes superfluid, possessing strange properties such as zero viscosity and frictionless flow. Superfluid helium nanodroplets have been referred to as the ultimate spectroscopic “matrix” because of their low temperature (T = 0.4 K) and weakly interacting nature, which leads to greatly simplified spectra relative to the gas phase [1]. They are particularly useful for synthesizing molecular complexes, and several previous investigations have focused on investigating the hydration of atmospherically important molecules, such as the hydroxyl radical [2]. While carbonyl sulfide is the most abundant sulphur containing molecule in the atmosphere, little is known experimentally about how it interacts with water. In this study we focus on isolating OCS-(H2O)N complexes in helium nanodroplets, and on uncovering their infrared signatures with quantum cascade laser spectroscopy.

Infrared spectroscopic investigation of carbonyl sulfide hydration in superfluid helium nanodroplets

255th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.