Abstract
The initial oxidation of gas phase metal clusters is studied in a new experimental configuration. A beam of neutral metal clusters is produced in a laser vaporization source, and after skimming the beam passes a reaction cell where the clusters undergo one or a few collisions with oxygen molecules. The reaction products are detected with laser ionization and mass spectrometry. We have determined the sticking probability, S, of O 2 on Fe N, Co N and Cu N clusters, with N κ 10–60. Fe N and Co N show a similar size dependence with low sticking probability, S < 0.2, for the smallest sizes, then increasing almost monotonically to N κ 25, where S levels out at a constant value of 0.7 (Fe N) or 1.0 (Co N). Cu N shows a different size behavior with reactivity minima for clusters with closed electronic shells.
Published Version
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