Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol.110, No.11, 5208-5217, 1999
Measurement of the dissociation energies of anionic silver clusters (Ag-n(-), n = 2-11) by collision-induced dissociation
The energy-resolved collision-induced dissociation method is applied to measure the fragmentation patterns, cross sections, and dissociation energies of small anionic silver clusters (Ag-n(-), n = 2 - 11). The main reaction channels are found to be loss of atom and loss of dimer, with dimer loss favored for odd n values. The dissociation energies for the loss of atom, D-0(Ag-n-1(-) - Ag), show strong even-odd alternation. Threshold models that account for collisional activation efficiency, kinetic shifts, and competitive shifts are employed to obtain dissociation energies. A critical examination of the models is performed using a thermochemical cycle comparing sequential atom loss with dimer loss.
Keywords:COINAGE-METAL-CLUSTERS;POTENTIAL-CONFIGURATION INTERACTION;ELECTRON-IMPACT IONIZATION;SEQUENTIAL BOND-ENERGIES;PHOTOELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY;BINDING-ENERGIES;GAS-PHASE;IONS;STABILITY;SPECTRA