Chemical Dynamics

Our research

Chemical dynamics deals with the movements of molecules and molecular systems. These movements control chemical reactions and physical processes.

The movements can be very fast such as molecular vibrations, electron transfers in solar cells or bonds that are broken in a chemical reaction. We study the very fast processes photochemically, with laser systems that provide short laser pulses, on the femto-second scale (10-15 s). Some of the studies are done at the new and advanced so-called the free-electron lasers - large facilities that today only have one in California and one in Japan. There, you can combine visible light and X-ray light to follow the energy state and structural dynamics of everything from small molecules to large biomolecules.

The movements can also be relatively slow, e.g. small molecules moving in a gel. A gel is a soft material such as gelatine. How quickly a gel swells or shrinks is important to e.g. be able to use small gel particles to encapsulate drug molecules which can then be released when the particles swell at a certain pH or salinity. These processes can also be studied with computer simulations, where you can investigate which specific properties of the gel are most important for a certain application.