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Scientific progress at the Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory is driven by the close coupling between experiment and theory and
is currently organized around four integrated research themes.
Electron-driven processes in condensed phases
Fundamental physicochemical processes in water radiolysis are probed at elevated temperatures and pressures. Related experimental and computational studies focus on the electronic excitation of liquid water, dissociative electron attachment and radiolytic transients. Radiolytic decay channels in nonaqueous media are delineated experimentally (gamma and heavy-ion irradiation and pulse radiolysis) and theoretically (track modeling and computational chemistry) .
Radiation effects in heterogeneous systems and at interfaces
The influence of the interface on the nature and mechanism of formation of the primary species in the radiolysis of water on ceramic oxide surfaces is elucidated. The fate of the carriers generated in the metal during the radiolysis of aqueous suspensions of metallic nanoparticles is probed.
Influence of medium on radical reactions
The influence of solvent environment on radical reaction rates and mechanisms is investigated and a predictive capability for these effects is acquired. Solvated electron reaction rates in supercritical fluids and the temperature dependence of OH, H and HO2 radical reactions in aqueous solution are measured and modeled along with O(3P), reactions in technologically-important, supercritical CO2.
Charge transfer in hybrid (nano)assemblies
Charge separation is characterized in ordered assemblies of inorganic-organic hybrids, semiconductor-metal composites, and nanotube-architecture-supported semiconductor/sensitizer structures, allowing their successful utilization in catalysis and photoelectrochemical cells. A molecular-level understanding of photoinduced processes in these assemblies and of chemical reactivity at interfaces enables us to overcome previous limitations in attaining higher photoconversion efficiencies.
In addition, the Rad Lab maintains the Radiation Chemistry Data Center (RCDC) and the Radiation Chemistry
Reading Room.
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