ProfessorMurray McEwan

The enormous clouds of gas and dust that exist between the stars act as chemical factories producing vast quantities of a whole range of different chemical species.  We are interested in how these chemicals are synthesised.  The experimental techniques we have to investigate these processes include a flowing afterglow selected ion flow drift tube (FA-SIFDT) and an Ion Cyclotron Resonance mass spectrometer. Ion-neutral processes of specific interest are ion-atom reactions and the competition between bimolecular and termolecular association reactions. The sensitivity of the FA/SIFDT instrument has shown it to be capable of detecting trace chemicals in air down to the low ppb range.  We have utilized this aspect of FA-SIFDT technology in a number of applications from medicine, environmental pollution and the detection of volatile organic compounds.