Using SLAC’s X-ray laser, the method revealed atomic motions in a simple catalyst, opening the door to study more complex molecules key to chemical processes in industry and nature.
Catalysts facilitate crucial chemical reactions in nature and industry alike. In a subset of them, catalytic activity is triggered by light. For example, when iron pentacarbonyl – a molecule in which a central iron atom is surrounded by five carbon monoxide groups – is exposed to light, the iron sheds its carbon monoxide groups one after another, creating spots for other molecules to dock on to during a catalytic reaction.
Although this process has been studied extensively with spectroscopy, a method that shows how energy moves around in molecules, key details of how the catalyst’s atoms change structure after being hit by light remain unknown.
Now, writing in the journal Nature Communications, a team led by researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory report how they used ultrafast X-rays from the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), combined with recent theoretical advancements, to reveal those atomic motions on a timescale of femtoseconds, millionths of a billionth of a second. The technique could be used to observe speedy atomic motions in more complex catalysts.
Understanding how energy flows through molecules and how atoms move in real space and time brings us one step closer to controlling chemical reactions, helping us design materials.Adi NatanSLAC Staff Scientist and Principal Investigator at the Stanford PULSE Institute
“Part of the fun is to make tools that will open new doors,” said Adi Natan, principal investigator and staff scientist at the Stanford PULSE Institute, a joint institute of SLAC and Stanford University. “And being able to see how molecular structures evolve with unprecedented detail will allow us to learn something new about the chemistry of molecules.”
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