High resolution X-ray emission spectroscopy of water and aqueous ions using the micro-jet technique

Soft X-ray absorption (XA) and emission (XE) spectroscopy is a powerful method for probing the local electronic structure of light elements (e.g. C, O, N, S) and transition metals, which are all of importance for biochemical systems. Here, we report for the first time on the XE spectra of a liquid micro-jet sample in a vacuum environment. We developed a high resolution X-ray emission spectrometer and recorded the spectra of pure water in full agreement with those of the literature, as well as of an aqueous solution of NiCl ₂. For the latter system, ground state Hartree-Fock calculations using a self-consistent reaction field (SCRF) approach were carried out to specify the nature of the d-occupied orbital. Our results confirm the dark-channel-fluorescence-yield mechanism that we recently proposed for the case of metal ions in aqueous solutions. The ability to record absorption and emission spectra of an aqueous liquid-jet opens the way for the study of biochemical systems in physiological media.