This work presents an experimental picture of molecular ballistic diffusion on a surface, a process that is difficult to pinpoint because it generally occurs on very short length scales. By combining neutron time-of-flight data with molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations, we provide a complete description of the ballistic translations and rotations of a polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) adsorbed on the basal plane of graphite. Pyrene, C16H10, adsorbed on graphite is a unique system, where at relative surface coverages of about 10-20% its mean free path matches the experimentally accessible time/space scale of neutron time-of-flight spectroscopy (IN6 at the Institut Laue-Langevin). The comparison between the diffusive behavior of large and small PAHs such as pyrene and benzene adsorbed on graphite brings a strong experimental indication that the interaction between molecules is the dominating mechanism in the surface diffusion of polyaromatic hydrocarbons adsorbed on graphite.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 06 June 2017.
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#21,972,100
of 32,950,213 outputs
Outputs from The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
#5,137
of 9,308 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#277,298
of 443,699 outputs
Outputs of similar age from The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
#59
of 129 outputs
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