A MULTI-SPECTROSCOPIC APPROACH TO REVEAL THE ASTROCHEMISTRY OF POLYCYLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS

Schnell, Melanie

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Description

Title

A MULTI-SPECTROSCOPIC APPROACH TO REVEAL THE ASTROCHEMISTRY OF POLYCYLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS

Author(s)

Schnell, Melanie

Issue Date

2023-06-21

Keyword(s)

Mini-symposium: Spectroscopy at Large-scale Facilities

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are of great interest for its potential central role in astrochemistry. They are assumed to connect the chemistry between fullerenes and smaller carbon species, and it is assumed that they contain up to 20% of the galactic carbon. To unravel the various aspects of their impact in astrochemistry, we perform a multi-spectroscopic approach covering large areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. The structures and intermolecular interactions of PAH-water complexes are investigated using high-resolution chirped-pulse rotational spectroscopy in our lab and infrared spectroscopy using the Free-Electron Laser (FEL) FELIX in Nijmegen in the gas phase. With this work, we aim at understanding interactions between PAHs themselves and water. Another motivation is to learn how an ice layer begins to form on an extended carbon surface. In another series of experiments, we perform plasma studies with PAHs and other astrochemically relevant molecules as precursors using an electric discharge. We observe a rich chemistry that we can then characterize spectroscopically using IR and rotational spectroscopy, which is highly complementary. To study PAH photophysics, we use the Hamburg XUV to soft-X-ray Free-Electron Laser FLASH and perform ultrafast XUV-UV/IR pump-probe experiments, with ionization and dissociation as competing pathways. We can extract life times of electronically excited neutral and cationic states and investigate characteristic fragmentation patterns depending on the nature of the PAH under investigation. In my presentation, I will provide an overview of our research activities on PAHs and discuss some of the latest results.

Publisher

International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy

Type of Resource

Text

Language

eng

Handle URL

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/122382

DOI

https://doi.org/10.15278/isms.2023.6935

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