Paul Kemper
Tel: 805-893-2673
E-mail: kemper@chem.ucsb.edu

My research centers on

1) Instrument development and construction,

2) Clustering of transition metals with small molecular ligands and,

3) Conformations of interesting inorganic molecules and metal clusters.

In the last few years our group has constructed both a MALDI-Drift Cell-Quadrupole and an ESI-Drift Cell-Quadrupole instruments in addition to a high-intensity metal cluster-surface science machine. We are currently constructing a very high-resolution ion mobility instrument consisting of a two meter drift tube (100-400 K temperature range) followed by an ion funnel leading to a mass selector / detector section with a QTOF format. Both MALDI and ESI ionization capabilities are supported.

In current research, we are investigating the binding of O₂, C₂H₄ and C₃H₆ to Ag and Au metal clusters (both positively and negatively charged) as a function of cluster size. The conformations of these clusters have also been determined using ion mobility. Most interestingly, we find that the cluster conformation is a strong function of ligation, in many cases. That is, the clusters will change shape to enhance the ligand binding. The stronger the ligation, the greater the changes which can occur. We have also determined the conformations and extent of defects in poly(phenyl-vinyl) oligomers (used as optical emitters), again using ion mobility.