Research Insights
Theoretical and Experimental Studies of Elementary Molecular Species and Reactions of Importance to Gas Phase Chemical Physics
New theoretical and experimental methods in chemical physics being developed by the PIs provide great opportunities for the study of molecular species and chemical reactions of fundamental importance in combustion processes. In this research, high level quantum mechanical formalisms are a significant source of critical predictions concerning molecular systems that may be challenging for experiments. Moreover, our helium droplet experiments have opened whole new vistas for the spectroscopic study of molecular species relevant to combustion environments. Theoretical developments proposed herein include a focus on obtaining highly accurate energetics for species pertinent to elementary reactions. Experimental developments include strategies to characterize transient combustion intermediates associated with low temperature hydrocarbon oxidation processes, which have been difficult to probe with other methodologies. The combination of theory and experiment to solve problems inaccessible to either alone is a hallmark of this research.
Funder: U.S. Department of Energy
Amount: $927,610
PI: Gary Douberly, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry