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Updated: Jun 2, 2026
Total Internal Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy (TIRAS) for the Detection of Solvated Electrons at a Plasma-liquid Interface
Published on: January 24, 2018
The hydrated electron: a seemingly familiar chemical and biological transient
Katrin R Siefermann1, Bernd Abel
1Institut für Physikalische Chemie der Universität Göttingen, Tammannstrasse 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
Abstract:
Since the discovery of the hydrated electron in bulk water in 1962, the species has been the subject of intense research and speculation. For many decades even the basic features of the simplest of all chemical and biological transients and reactants--such as its structure, binding motifs, lifetimes, and binding energies--remained elusive. Recently, another milestone in the research of the hydrated electron was the determination of its vertical binding energy (VBE). Also a long-lived hydrated electron near the surface of liquid water has been discovered. The present Minireview discusses the implications and consequences of this and other new findings in addition to the emerging complex picture of a solvated electron in water.
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