Issue 37, 2019

Structure of the aqueous electron

Abstract

Recently there has been a revival of interest in the basic structure of the aqueous or “hydrated” electron, e(aq). According to the conventional picture, this species occupies a cavity or excluded volume in the structure of liquid water, with a characteristic absorption spectrum ascribable to s → p excitations of a particle in a quasi-spherical box. This traditional picture has been questioned over the past few years, however, on the basis of a one-electron pseudopotential model that predicts a more delocalized spin density and no distinct cavity. This Perspective reviews the known experimental properties of e(aq) along with attempts to reproduce and understand them using both one-electron models and many-electron quantum chemistry calculations. The overwhelming weight of the evidence continues to support the conventional excluded-volume picture of the aqueous electron.

Graphical abstract: Structure of the aqueous electron

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Perspective
Submitted
29 jul. 2019
Accepted
02 sep. 2019
First published
02 sep. 2019

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2019,21, 20538-20565

Author version available

Structure of the aqueous electron

J. M. Herbert, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2019, 21, 20538 DOI: 10.1039/C9CP04222A

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