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MO: Fachverband Molekülphysik

MO 14: Poster 2: Biomolecules, Electronic Spectroscopy, Experimental Techniques, Quantum Chemistry, Various Topics

MO 14.16: Poster

Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 16:30–19:00, Poster.IV

Temperature jump apparatus for kinetic terahertz absorption spectroscopy — •Trung Quan Luong, Erik Bründermann, and Martina Havenith — Department of Physical Chemistry II, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany

We set up a temperature jump (T-jump) apparatus to generate fast T-jump in aqueous solutions for real-time kinetic study. High power short laser pulses (40 mJ/pulse, 5 ns bandwidth) are focused on an aqueous sample to initiate a fast increase in temperature and disturb an existing chemical equilibrium. The kinetics is probed by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) which is a sensitive method to observe intermolecular water dynamics. Reproducible T-jumps of 5-7°C are monitored directly by measuring the temperature dependent change in THz absorption of water. The sudden increase in temperature leads to a significant and measurable change of investigated proteins (from folding to unfolding state or vice versa) and their hydration shell. The first combination between T-jump and THz-TDS provides opportunities to probe protein folding dynamics through its coupled water dynamics in the hydration shell.