Photoelectron spectra of alkali metal–ammonia microjets: From blue electrolyte to bronze metal

• DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz7607
• Publication Date: 2020-06-04T23:05:21Z
• Authors: Tillmann Buttersack; Philip E. Mason; Ryan S. McMullen; H. Christian Schewe; Tomas Martinek; Krystof Brezina; Martin Crhan; Axel Gomez; Dennis Hein; Garlef Wartner; Robert Seidel; Hebatallah Ali; Stephan Thürmer; Ondrej Marsalek; Bernd Winter; Stephen E. Bradforth; Pavel Jungwirth
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; solvated electrons; Large scale facilities for research with photons neutrons and ions; generalized gradient approximation; nonmetal transition; 01 natural sciences; 3. Good health

Watching electrons swarm ammonia

Liquid ammonia is unusual in its capacity to host electrons in stable solution, with vivid blue and bronze colors signifying the low- and high-concentration regimes, respectively. Buttersack et al. used photoelectron spectroscopy and accompanying theoretical simulations to track the precise energetic changes that ensued as steadily rising quantities of electrons were introduced by dissolved lithium, sodium, or potassium (see the Perspective by Isborn). The results point to a gradual transition from the dilute electrolyte solution of paired dielectrons to the more delocalized metallic structure at the highest concentrations.

Science , this issue p. 1086 ; see also p. 1056