Chemical Structure and Dynamics annual report 1997

The Chemical Structure and Dynamics (CS and D) program is a major component of the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to provide a state-of-the-art collaborative facility for studies of chemical structure and dynamics. The authors respond to the need for a fundamental, molecular level understanding of chemistry at a wide variety of environmentally important interfaces by: (1) extending the experimental characterization and theoretical description of chemical reactions to encompass the effects of condensed media and interfaces; (2) developing a multidisciplinary capability for describing interfacial chemical processes within which the new knowledge generated can be brought to bear on complex phenomena in environmental chemistry and in nuclear waste processing and storage; and (3) developing state-of-the-art analytical methods for characterizing complex materials of the types found in stored wastes and contaminated soils, and for detecting and monitoring trace atmospheric species. The focus of the research is defined primarily by DOE's environmental problems: fate and transport of contaminants in the subsurface environment, processing and storage of waste materials, cellular effects of chemical and radiological insult, and atmospheric chemistry as it relates to air quality and global change. Twenty-seven projects are described under the following topical sections: Reaction mechanisms at interfaces; High-energy processes at environmental interfaces; Cluster models of the condensed phase; and Miscellaneous