Slow Electrons are "killing" Ozone

CARBON SPACE

just a big bucky ball

Innsbruck - Oct 15th, 2001
Tilmann Mďż˝rk from the Institute of Ion Physics at the University of Innsbruck and his team have, with the support of the Austrian Science Fund, developed unique methods and equipment to examine the interaction of electrons with atoms, molecules and clusters. And their research has been successful -- they have made a number of discoveries, including a new ozone destruction process, and they have clearly established the binding energy of the "buckyball", C60 , which has long since been the subject of international research.

The destruction of the ozone in the earth's atmosphere has many different causes, many of which are unknown. Tilmann Mďż˝rk and his team, in cooperation with University College London, have identified a phenomenon which was hitherto considered impossible, but which basically constitutes another ozone destruction process.

"We have proved what was previously considered impossible: slow, thermal electrons are taken up by the ozone. This happens with great frequency and has a detrimental effect on the atmosphere, since this destroys the ozone," explains Mďż˝rk. Since there are a great number of these slow electrons in the ionosphere, it is clear that the many ozone models must be recalculated in light of these results and the simulations must be re-worked.

The binding energy of the "buckyball"
A further highlight amongst Mďż˝rk's results relates to the well-known football-shaped "buckyball" C60, which is characterised by its particular stability. In cooperation with the University of Jerusalem, Mďż˝rk has revealed the secret of this binding energy.

"Unusually for a 'football', we bombarded the C60 molecule with electrons, thereby attempting to break a C2 molecule away from the ionised molecule cluster. We wanted to know the energy required for this fragmentation process, since, conversely, this also tells us the energy with which this part is bound to the rest of the molecule," explains Mďż˝rk.

Mďż˝rk and his team succeeded in breaking a C2 carbon molecule away from the C60 ion and therefore established the measure of stability, i.e. the precise binding energy. The astonishing result: the binding energy required to break away a C2 molecule, at 10 electron volts, is considerably higher than the ionisation energy of approximately 7.6 eV -- this makes C60 very different from other molecules.

CARBON WORLDS

Bucky Balls Get Superconductive

Murray Hill - Aug. 30, 2001
Scientists from Lucent Technologies' Bell Labs have shown that soccer ball-shaped carbon molecules known as bucky balls can act as superconductors at relatively warm temperatures, raising hopes for inexpensive, power loss-free organic electronics and other practical applications such as quantum computers.
Clues To Early History Of Solar System's Oldest Diamonds

Munich - August 09, 2001
Simulating implantation of noble gases into terrestrial diamond grains, scientists from the Karpov Institute for Physical Chemistry (Moscow, Russia) and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (Mainz, Germany) infer a sequence of events in the early life of diamonds in meteorites, the most common form of stardust available for laboratory study (Nature, August 9, 2001).
Earthquakes Reveal Diamonds' Origins

Tempe - July 13, 2001
The seismic rumblings could provide key clues about where miners should look for diamonds, according to recent research. Matt Fouch, assistant professor of geological sciences at ASU, studies vibrations caused by earthquakes to visualize the earth at depths of hundreds of kilometers, where diamonds are formed.
Superconductivity Taken To The Nanoth Degree

Hong Kong - July 9, 2001
Physicists at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have discovered that, below 15 K, single 4-Angstrom-carbon nanotubes exhibit superconductivity. This is the first time single-carbon nanotubes have been found to show superconducting properties, i.e., conducting electricity without resistance.

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