Overview of the PhD student activities in the Chemistry program in the field of Environmental
                                        Chemistry: 2014/15


Student (given name and surname)

                                                                             Joseph K´Ekuboni MALONGWE

Supervisor  (given name and surname)

                                                                                Professor Petr Klán

Consultant (given name and surname)


Beginning of the study (month/year)

                                                                                December 6^th, 2011

Form of study (delete where appropriate)

                                                                                Present (internal)


Summary of yearly research results (15 lines maximum)



1.       An experimental – computational method was used to investigate the spectroscopic behavior
of naphthalene on the surface of ice grains. UV-vis diffuse reflectance and fluorescence
spectroscopies of naphthalene combined with DFT and ADC(2) calculations provided evidence for the
occurrence of excited-state associates. The measured and calculated bathochromic shifts

of the S0→ S1 electronic transitions related to naphthalene dimers or naphthalene–ice interactions
did not exceed 3 nm. The bands observed in the emission spectrum of frozen naphthalene solutions
were assigned to excited dimers of different mutual orientations. Frozen solutions of naphthalene
was exploited to demonstrate both the absence of considerable bathochromic shift and a strong
tendency to aggregate.

2.       Experimental studies of the heterogeneous ozonation of pyrene at the air-ice interface on
artificial snow prepared by shock-freezing technique had shown that this reaction follows Langmuir
– Hinshelwood type mechanism. Pyrene molecules were largely ejected to the surface of snow grains
and available to react with the gas – phase reagent ozone. The lower k[O3] value for pyrene at 258
K suggested decreased partitioning of ozone at 258 K than 188 K.





Internship abroad (place, start date, duration)




Publication activities

Number of peer-reviewed articles in impacted journals

                                                                                                                            2

Number of conference (oral/poster) presentations


Number of other publishing activities  (books, book chapters, patents etc.)


Public lecture in English (delete where appropriate)

                                                                                                                           yes



The most important results (5 maximum, show the impact factor of the journal):

                                                 1


Apparent Rate Acceleration of the Heterogeneous Reaction of Ozone with Alkene at the Air – Ice
Interface at Lower Temperature, in Environ Sci Technol, 2013 Jul2; 47 (13): 6773-80.

Impact Factor : 5,257

                                                 2

Spectroscopic Properties of Benzene at the Air–Ice Interface: A Combined Experimental–Computational
Approach, in The Journal of Physical Chemistry,  A 2014,  118, 7535−7547

Impact Factor: 4,814

                                                 3

Spectroscopic Properties of Naphthalene on the Surface of Ice Grains Revisited: A

Combined Experimental–Computational Approach,  submitted in The Journal of Physical Chemistry

Impact Factor: 4,835

                                                 4



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