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 יול 2019
Accepted
02 ספט 2019
First published
02 ספט 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

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements