HCl dissociation on noble metals: A model system for electronically nonadiabatic interactions in chemical reactions at metal surfaces

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Alec Michael Wodtke
• Subject Area: Solid State and Surface Chemistry, Material Synthesis ; Physical Chemistry of Molecules, Liquids and Interfaces, Biophysical Chemistry
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 327334805

Born-Oppenheimer failure is well established as an important influence in the transfer of energy from an energized molecule to a metal solid. Yet, there are still no experimental demonstrations that these effects influence chemical reaction probabilities. We propose experiments on HCl dissociation on Au(111), a reaction system where Born-Oppenheimer failure is known to be important for vibrationally inelastic scattering and where Born-Oppenheimer failure is also likely to influence the dissociation probability. Our aim is for these studies to become a benchmark example of Born-Oppenheimer failure in a simple chemical reaction occurring at a metal surface, one that can provide incentive to develop more advanced theories of surface chemistry that include the effects of Born-Oppenheimer failure.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants