Prospects on quilibrium (Bio)chemistry via THz-driven Water
DIPC Seminars
- Speaker
-
Sergio Carbajo, UCLA department of electrical and computer engineering. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University
- When
-
2022/09/12
14:00 - Place
- DIPC Josebe Olarra auditorium. Hybrid seminar, online at https://dipc-org.zoom.us/j/99179278677
- Add to calendar
-
iCal
Liquid water is the single most important medium in which highly consequential
chemical and biological processes take place. Water is often equivocally
regarded as a passive medium. Ranging from an isolated molecule to small
clusters and up to bulk, water shows unique and ubiquitous behavior at
different temperatures and environments. The main reason is the presence of a
strong H-bond network[1], which is why water provides a very dynamic
environment to solutes.
The H-bond network plays a crucial role in most solvation chemical reactions,
such as femtosecond guest-host interactions, folding processes in
biomolecules, and non-equilibrium chemical kinetics, which are not light-
triggered reactions but are kinetically activated. The combination of
ultrafast strong-field THz[2] and X-ray sources[3] forges a unique opportunity
to drive and visualize water molecular dynamics for in-solvation (bio)chemical
reactions to be understood and controlled. First, before its thermalization,
investigating the non-equilibrium, femtosecond to picosecond time evolution of
the structure of water clusters under strong-field THz radiation renders
H-bond network disruptions resembling supercritical-like water structure that
may play a crucial chemical role via interactions with the first few hydration
shells and beyond. Second, the H-bond network relaxation and thermalization at
longer delays (>>100s of picosecond) will also yield tunable temperature jumps
(T-jumps) from a fraction to hundreds of Kelvin.
In this talk, we will first review recent advancements in THz-driven non-
equilibrium in-solution biochemistry. We will also discuss how understanding
the ultrafast non-equilibrium and thermalization processes of water under THz
excitation could unlock a vast ensemble of physical and biological quantum
chemistry in highly disrupted hydration shells that are not possible to study
today. Last, we will summarize the scientific and technological challenges
ahead to fully capitalize on this generalized framework, including emerging
quantum electrodynamical phenomena to render ultracompact, ultrafast electron
and X-ray sources.
Link to the seminar: