Title: Interstellar fullerene-based carbonaceous matter—a potential carrier for unidentified infrared emission bands

Speaker: Professor Hou Gaolei, School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University

Report time: 14:00, May 16th

Tencent conference number: 834-578-825

Meeting moderator: Professor Cui Zhonghua

Hosted by: Institute of atomic and molecular physics, Jilin University

Abstract:

      Unidentified Infrared Emission, UIE is a series of discrete infrared bands with wavelengths ranging from 3 to 20 microns. Since astronomers first observed the UIE band in the young carbon-rich star NGC 7027 in the 1970s, it has been observed in a variety of galaxies including protoplanetary nebulae, planetary nebulae, reflection nebulae, the Milky Way diffuse interstellar medium, supernova remnants, and starburst galaxies. UIE bands have been observed in celestial environments. Understanding the characteristics of these bands and confirming their carrier materials and evolution is of great significance for understanding the history of star formation, interstellar chemistry, galaxy evolution and the origin of life. It is a very important scientific issue in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics and astrochemistry.

      This report mainly introduces our recent efforts and achievements in understanding whether fullerene-metal complexes are potential carriers for UIE bands. In the research, the gas phase method was used to synthesize fullerene-metal complexes, and mass spectrometry and infrared multiphoton dissociation spectroscopy were used for in-situ analysis and spectroscopic characterization, and the experimentally measured spectral characteristics were identified by combining theoretical calculations and simulations; The research obtained the high-resolution infrared spectrum of the gas-phase fullerene-metal complex in the wavelength range of 6–25 microns for the first time. The complex is the carrier of a very promising set of UIE bands, opening a new chapter in the study of interstellar fullerene matter and cosmic carbon chemistry.

Introduction:

       Professor Hou Gaolei, graduated from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China in 2009 with a bachelor's degree and obtained a doctorate degree in physical chemistry (including chemical physics) from the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2014. From 2014 to 2021, he worked in the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in the United States and the Swiss Federal Institute of Zurich. The Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) and the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium are engaged in scientific research. In February 2022, he joined the School of Physics, Xi'an Jiaotong University, as a professor and doctoral supervisor, and set up the "Precision Measurement and Structural Control of Cluster Spectroscopy" research group, and won the "Young Top Talents Support Program A" of Xi'an Jiaotong University and a high-level Shaanxi Province. Supported by the talent introduction plan and the merit-based funding for scientific and technological activities of overseas students in Shaanxi Province.

      Professor Hou Gaolei is mainly engaged in experimental and theoretical research on atomic and molecular cluster structure, spectroscopy and its dynamics. At present, it mainly focuses on the research and development of multi-dimensionally controlled high-sensitivity and high-space-time-resolution mass spectrometry-spectroscopy experimental devices, laboratory astrophysics and chemistry, energy catalytic conversion mechanisms for two-carbon targets, and design and construction of cluster-based functional information devices, etc. commence to work. He has published more than 70 academic papers in journals such as JACS, Angewandte Chemie, PNAS, Nat. Commun., Acc. Chem. Res. and J. Phys. Chem. Lett.