MOLECULAR-INTERACTIONS IN HOMOGENEOUS AND HETEROGENEOUS CONDUCTING PHASES

Interactions between ions in homogeneous bulk conducting phases, such as liquid or solid alkali metals, are first considered. Two approaches are used: one based on measurement by diffraction experiments of the liquid structure factor S(k), which is inverted to extract a pair pote ntial phi(r), while the second is founded in first principles electron theory. All the trends agree between the two approaches but modest qu antitative differences prompt a theoretical discussion of polarization interaction. In the final part of the article, the other focus is mol ecular interactions with metal surfaces. A metal theory approach based on image effects, and also quantum-chemical cluster calculations, is briefly discussed, special attention being focussed on the molecules C O, N2O and NO. In the latter case, both chemisorption on metal surface s (for example on Ru(001)) and also the messenger role of NO in the ce ntral nervous system, afford strong motivation for cluster studies of its interaction with metal atoms and ions.