SLS Environmental Cell

The hydrogen bonding network of interfacial nano-confinements in clay. Clays are composed of crystalline aluminosilicate layers that may be held together by hydrogen bonds of embedded water. This project investigates the local chemical environment of ions in the interlayer space of clay and the structure of the hydrogen-bonding network at subfreezing temperatures.

The interplay between reactive oxygen species and the multiphase chemistry of nitrogen, halogen and secondary organic species in aerosol particles. Reactive oxygen species are at the origin of redox processes within the aqueous phase of aerosol particles containing secondary organic and inorganic species. The consequences are halogen and nitrogen oxides recycling, formation and loss of organics, which are all implicated in atmospheric oxidation capacity as well as the burden and health impact of aerosol particles. 

Interfacial Ice Chemistry: Photolysis and Acid-Base Equilibria in the QLL and Brine. Dissociation and photochemistry of nitric acid and nitrous acid at frozen and liquid air-water interfaces have since long attracted scientific interest, most notably due to the pivotal role that this surface chemistry plays in modifying the nitrogen oxide budget and thus the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere.

We investigate multiphase chemistry of atmospheric relevance at the air-water and air-solid interfaces using X-ray excited electron spectroscopy  at the SIM & Phoenix & ISS endstations at the Swiss Light Source (SLS) and the ALS at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.