Non-local X-ray intermolecular radiative decay probes solvation shell of ions in water

Johan Söderström (), Lucas M. Cornetta, Victor Ekholm, Vincenzo Carravetta, Arnaldo Naves de Brito, Ricardo Marinho, Marcus Agåker, Takashi Tokushima, Conny Såthe, Anirudha Ghosh, Dana Bloß, Andreas Hans, Florian Trinter, Iyas Ismail, Debora Vasconcelos, Joel Pinheiro, Yi-Ping Chang, Manuel Harder, Zhong Yin, Joseph Nordgren, Gunnar Öhrwall, Hans Ågren, Jan-Erik Rubensson and Olle Björneholm ()
Additional contact information
Johan Söderström: Uppsala University
Lucas M. Cornetta: Universidade de São Paulo
Victor Ekholm: Lund University
Vincenzo Carravetta: CNR-IPCF
Arnaldo Naves de Brito: State University of Campinas
Ricardo Marinho: University of Brasilia
Marcus Agåker: Uppsala University
Takashi Tokushima: Lund University
Conny Såthe: Lund University
Anirudha Ghosh: Lund University
Dana Bloß: University of Kassel
Andreas Hans: University of Kassel
Florian Trinter: Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Iyas Ismail: LCPMR
Debora Vasconcelos: Uppsala University
Joel Pinheiro: Uppsala University
Yi-Ping Chang: European XFEL
Manuel Harder: European XFEL
Zhong Yin: Tohoku University
Joseph Nordgren: Uppsala University
Gunnar Öhrwall: Lund University
Hans Ågren: Uppsala University
Jan-Erik Rubensson: Uppsala University
Olle Björneholm: Uppsala University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Aqueous solutions are crucial in chemistry, biology, environmental science, and technology. The chemistry of solutes is influenced by the surrounding solvation shell of water molecules, which have different chemical properties than bulk water due to their different electronic and geometric structure. It is experimentally challenging to selectively investigate this property-determining electronic and geometric structure. Here, we report experimental results on the non-local X-ray emission process Intermolecular Radiative Decay, for the prototypical ions Na+ and Mg2+ in water. We show that, in Intermolecular Radiative Decay, an electron from the solvation shell fills a core hole in the solute, and the released energy is emitted as an X-ray photon. We interpret the underlying mechanism using theoretical calculations, and show how Intermolecular Radiative Decay will allow us to meet the challenge of selectively probing the solvation shell from within.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65581-7

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