Sandia Creates Better 'Fingerprints' to Detect Elusive, Valuable Chemical Compounds
Wednesday, June 28, 2017 - 08:52
in Physics & Chemistry
Imagine being able to see the entire Statue of Liberty and a small ant on its nose simultaneously. The drastic difference in size between the two objects would seem to render this task impossible. On a molecular level, this is exactly what a team led by Sandia National Laboratories chemists David Osborn and Carl Hayden accomplished with a special, custom-made instrument that has enhanced the power of a method called photoelectron photoion coincidence, or PEPICO, spectroscopy. This enhanced method could yield new insights into chemical reactions in the troposphere (the lowest layer of the Earth's atmosphere) and in low-temperature combustion.